Erica arborea

Erica arborea, the tree heath or tree heather, is a <a href="/facts/Species/oDg6b96r">species</a> of <a href="/facts/Flowering_plant/E5eGYIvY">flowering plant</a> (angiosperms) in the heather family <a href="/facts/Ericaceae/fthVmp8G">Ericaceae</a>, native to the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Basin/azjFD5mW">Mediterranean Basin</a> and <a href="/facts/Ethiopia/LVujNp5v">Ethiopia</a>, <a href="/facts/Kenya/Y9Ko9pQu">Kenya</a> and <a href="/facts/Tanzania/MJueJ7E4">Tanzania</a> in <a href="/facts/East_Africa/WtsAyphI">East Africa</a>. It is also cultivated as an <a href="/facts/Ornamental_plant/ImyCDwMW">ornamental</a>.
The wood, known as briar root (<a href="/facts/French_language/qe1DnaQh">French</a>: bruyère, <a href="/facts/Catalan_language/W2uTbK8Q">Catalan</a>: bruc, <a href="/facts/Portuguese_language/vr3Fwzw3">Portuguese</a>: betouro, <a href="/facts/Spanish_language/95BgYNfv">Spanish</a>: brezo), is extremely hard and heat-resistant, and is used for making smoking pipes. Leaf fossils attributed to this species were described for the Mio-Pleistocene deposit of São Jorge in Madeira Island.

Erica arborea open-in-new

Erica arborea