heath family

heath family
the plant family Ericaceae, characterized by evergreen or deciduous shrubs, trees, and woody plants growing in acid soil and having simple leaves, often showy flowers either solitary or in clusters, and fruit in the form of a berry or capsule, and including the azalea, blueberry, cranberry, heather, madrone, mountain laurel, rhododendron, and trailing arbutus.

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Family Ericaceae, made up mostly of shrubs and small trees, including azaleas, rhododendrons, mountain laurel, blueberries, and the low evergreen shrubs of the genus Erica (see erica).

A large percentage of the family's approximately 110 genera and 4,000 species are cultivated. Members are widely distributed, extending into the subarctic and along mountain chains through the tropics. They are often evergreen species that thrive on open, barren land with usually acid and poorly drained soils. See also heather.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • heath family — noun heathers • Syn: ↑Ericaceae, ↑family Ericaceae • Hypernyms: ↑dilleniid dicot family, ↑Ericales, ↑order Ericales • Member Meronyms: ↑heath …   Useful english dictionary

  • heath family — heath′ fam ily n. pln a plant family, Ericaceae, of mostly low shrubs growing in acid soil and having simple narrow leaves, four petaled bell shaped flowers, and fruit in the form of a berry or capsule …   From formal English to slang

  • heath — [hēth] n. [ME hethe < OE hæth, akin to Ger heide, wasteland, heath < IE base * kaito , forested or uncultivated land > Welsh coed, forest] 1. a tract of open wasteland, esp. in the British Isles, covered with heather, low shrubs, etc.;… …   English World dictionary

  • heath|er — «HEHTH uhr», noun. 1. a low evergreen shrub with stalks of small, purple or pink, bell shaped flowers, covering many heaths of Scotland and northern England; ling; heath. Heather belongs to the heath family. 2. any one of various heaths common in …   Useful english dictionary

  • Heath bar — The Heath bar is an American candy bar made of English style toffee. A thin hard slab with a milk chocolate coating, the toffee originally contained sugar, butter, and almonds, and was a small squarish bar weighing 1 ounce. The original Heath… …   Wikipedia

  • heath — heathless, adj. heathlike, adj. /heeth/, n. 1. a tract of open and uncultivated land; wasteland overgrown with shrubs. 2. any of various low growing evergreen shrubs common on such land, as the common heather, Calluna vulgaris. 3. any plant of… …   Universalium

  • Heath School — Infobox School name = Heath School imagesize = motto = established = grades = K 8 district = Public Schools of Brookline type = Elementary school principal = Milly Katzman enrollment = 377 (as of 2005 06) faculty = 32.8 (on FTE basis) ratio =… …   Wikipedia

  • family Ericaceae — noun heathers • Syn: ↑Ericaceae, ↑heath family • Hypernyms: ↑dilleniid dicot family, ↑Ericales, ↑order Ericales • Member Meronyms: ↑heath, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • family — /fam euh lee, fam lee/, n., pl. families, adj. n. 1. parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not. 2. the children of one person or one couple collectively: We want a large family. 3. the spouse and children …   Universalium

  • heath — noun Etymology: Middle English heth, from Old English hǣth; akin to Old High German heida heather, Old Welsh coit forest Date: before 12th century 1. a. a tract of wasteland b. an extensive area of rather level open uncultivated land usually with …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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