Cross-leaved Heath

Look out for cross-leaved heath, one of our three native heathers. It has pale-pink bell-shaped flowers in short bunches at the top of its stems. Its tiny needle-like leaves in whorls of four, making crosses on the stems, give the plant its name. It is a slender, straggling shrub up to 60 cms high with thin wiry branches. Cross-leaved heath grows in bogs and wet heaths and is a positive indicator in ACRES meaning higher scores and payments, showing how valuable our uplands are. Cross-leaved heath or Erica tetralix nó fraoch naoscaí is part of our native Irish biodiversity.