heather

—heathered, adj.

/hedh"euhr/, n.

1. any of various heaths, esp. Calluna vulgaris, of England and Scotland, having small, pinkish-purple flowers.

adj.

2. (of a yarn or fabric color) subtly flecked or mottled: all-cotton turtlenecks in your choice of five solid colors plus heather gray and heather green.

[1300-50; sp. var. of hether, earlier hedder, hadder, hather, ME hathir; akin to HEATH]

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or Scotch heather

Low evergreen shrub (Calluna vulgaris) of the heath family, widespread in western Europe and Asia, North America, and Greenland.

It is the chief vegetation on many wastelands of northern and western Europe. C. vulgaris is distinguished from true heaths, which are sometimes loosely called heather, by the lobes of its calyx (see flower), which conceal the petals; in true heaths the petals cover the calyx. Scotch heather has purple stems, close-leaved green shoots, and feathery spikes of bell-shaped flowers. It has various economic uses: large stems are made into brooms, shorter ones are tied into bundles that serve as brushes, and long trailing shoots are woven into baskets.

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▪ plant

also called  Scotch heather, or ling 

 (species Calluna vulgaris), low evergreen shrub of the heath family (Ericaceae), widespread in western Europe and Asia, North America, and Greenland. It is the chief vegetation on many wastelands of northern and western Europe. C. vulgaris is distinguished from true heaths (heath), which are sometimes loosely called heather, by the lobes of its calyx, which conceal the petals; in true heaths the petals are longer than the calyx.

      Scotch heather has purple stems, shoots with small, close leaves, and feathery spikes of pink bell-shaped flowers. In sheltered places it grows to 0.9 metre (3 feet) or more, but on arid slopes it frequently rises only a few centimetres above the ground.

      Heather has a number of economic uses: large stems are made into brooms, shorter ones are tied into bundles that serve as brushes, and long trailing shoots are woven into baskets. The plant has also been used for bedding. With the peat about its roots, it serves as an effective fuel. The huts of Scottish Highlanders were formerly made of heather and heath stems cemented with peat mud mixed with dry grass or straw; today, temporary sheds are often built in a similar way and roofed with heather. The young, juicy shoots and the seeds of heather are the principal food of the red grouse (Lagopus scoticus), and ripe seeds of heather are eaten by many other species of birds.

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