Erica canaliculata (channelled heath, "Janomeerika")

Japanese name: ジャノメエリカ
Scientific name: Erica canaliculata

[Overview]
An evergreen shrub 2–3 m tall.
Sometimes it becomes a small tree 5 m tall.
The main trunk can reach 10 cm in diameter as it grows large; the bark is gray-brown and develops fine vertical grooves with age.
It branches freely, the branches grow diagonally upward, and it grows densely.
The twigs are hairy.
The leaves are simple, in whorls of 3, linear and about 0.5 cm long, with margins rolled toward the underside.
The undersides of the leaves are densely covered with cottony hairs.
The flowers usually grow in threes at the tips of twigs, blooming so profusely that they cover the whole tree.
The corolla is pink, bell-shaped to broadly cup-shaped, with a shallowly 4-lobed tip.
There are 8 stamens, and the purple-brown anthers surrounding the style are conspicuous.
The calyx is nearly the same color as the corolla and is deeply 4-lobed.
The flower stalks are red and covered with fine hairs.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from stem-tip cuttings.
It is somewhat tender to cold but tolerates temperatures down to about -5°C, so it can overwinter outdoors in regions without frost.
Avoid cold winter winds.
It prefers lean, slightly acidic soil in a sunny, well-ventilated place.
Take care not to overwater; for potted plants, water thoroughly after the soil surface has dried, and for established plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient.
Apply slow-release fertilizer placed on the soil after flowering in spring and in autumn, so that no fertilizer remains in midsummer.
Pests and diseases include scale insects and aphids.

[Notes]
The name comes from the appearance of the flowers, in which the purple-brown anthers are conspicuous.

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