Erica cinerea
- noun
- Specialized
:
erica cinerea
- Gardeners often plant Erica cinerea to attract bees and other pollinators.
Examples
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The Erica cinerea blooms beautifully in late summer.
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The purple-red blossoms of Erica cinerea add vibrant color to moorland areas.
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Erica cinerea is found widely on heathlands throughout western Europe.
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Have you seen the Erica cinerea in the garden?
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In the spring, the garden was adorned with the delicate purple-red flowers of Erica cinerea.
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The Erica cinerea, also known as bell heather, thrives in rocky soil and adds charm to any landscape.
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During our hike, we admired the clusters of bell-shaped blooms on the Erica cinerea growing along the path.
Synonyms
A small European shrub with thin needle-like leaves and bell-shaped purple or pink flowers
A low shrub with purple bell-shaped flowers that grows on open wild land
A low shrub with thin leaves and purple-red flowers that grows on open, poor soil
Surface Forms
Morphology
erica + cinerea
This is a Latin binomial (genus + specific epithet), so a learner who knows 'Erica' as a plant genus could infer it names a type/species of Erica (partial predictability). However, the epithet 'cinerea' is not a common English word (and is listed as not found here), so the precise meaning 'bell heather' and its descriptive features are not derivable by a B1 learner from the constituents alone.
Etymology
Erica cinerea may come from old words: Erica from a Greek word for 'heather' and cinerea from a Latin word for 'ash-coloured'. So the name simply describes a kind of heather with greyish parts, the plant we know as bell heather.
