ERICACEAE - HEATH FAMILY
Scientific Description:
Shrubs or trees, sometimes herbs, rarely lacking chlorophyll. Leaves alternate, decussate or whorled,exstipulate, margin usually entire. Inflorescence usually racemose, flowers rarely solitary, bracts and paired bracteoles usually present. Flowers usually 4−5-merous, actinomorphic or slightly zygomorphic. Sepals free or united below. Petals free or fused. Stamens usually twice as many as petals and ± free from them. Anthers inverting during development, dehiscing by pores or sometimes slits, often with appendages (spurs) in Türkiye species; pollen usually in tetrads. Ovary superior or (in VacciniumL.) inferior, placentation basically axile. Fruit of Türkiye species a capsule or berry. Incl. Vacciniaceae, Pyrolaceae, Monotropaceae.
Reference:
Davis PH (1978). Ericaceae, In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 6: 89.
Public Description:
“Heath family” grows almost world-wide, especially in the temperate regions of the northern and southern hemisphere. The family includes herbs, dwarf shrubs, and trees, and rarely parasitic plants without chlorophyll. The most important and most recognizable economic members are the cranberry,blueberry(Vaccinium L. species), rhododendrons(Rhododendron L.), azaleas (Azalea L.), and heathers (Erica L. species).This family has the ability to live in acidic and infertile soils in large proportions. Many members of Ericaceae have mycorrhizal fungi to assist with extracting nutrients from infertile and soils, as well as evergreen foliage to conserve absorbed nutrients.
References:
Anonymous 1 (2018). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ericaceae, Accessed date: 30.01.2018.
Anonymous 2 (2018). https://gobotany.newenglandwild.org/search/?q=ERICACEAE,Accessed date: 30.01.2018.
