Heath, << heeth, >> also called heather, is a type of low evergreen shrub that grows on moors in the United Kingdom, other parts of Europe, and Africa. Heath also means an open area where few plants except these shrubs grow.
There are over 600 kinds of heather. Most species are native to Africa. Scotch heather is common on moors in Europe. It is also called ling. This plant has a low, grayish, hairy stalk, broomlike branches, and leaves like needles. Its tiny purple-rose blossoms are shaped like bells, and grow in long clusters called spikes.
Heather bells are often mentioned in Scotch songs and stories. They are the flowers of either the cross-leaved heath or the twisted heath of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Many African heathers also have colorful blossoms.
In European countries, heather is used to make brooms and brushes. The trailing shoots are woven into baskets. Briarwood, used for pipes, comes from the roots of a heather common in France. Some people in Scotland build the thatched roofs of their houses from heather. In some places, a liquid made from heather is used in tanning leather. Domestic animals are fed young heather shoots. Heather is also valuable because it makes up a large part of the material that fills peat bogs. Peat makes an important low-grade fuel in some European countries. Many birds also eat heather seeds.
True heather is not common in the United States, but many plants of the United States belong to the heath family. Among them are the azalea, blueberry, cranberry, huckleberry, manzanita, rhododendron, and trailing arbutus.
