Daboecia cantabrica aka St Dabeoc's Heath

Daboecia cantabrica is a small shrub in the heath family, Ericaceae. It is evergreen, so it keeps its leaves year-round. Its names include Irish heath, Connemara heath, and bell heath. St Dabeoc's heath is another name for this species. It comes from western Europe, which includes Ireland. Kew gives its range on the mainland as western France to northwestern Portugal. The RHS also lists it as native to Britain or Ireland. It grows in a temperate climate. Its low height keeps both leaves and flowers near the ground.

This shrub has a twiggy form, not a tall trunk. Oregon State gives its height as about 1.5 feet [0.5 metres]. Its small, simple leaves have an oval to oblong shape. Each leaf is about 0.4 inches, or one centimetre, long. The leaves grow in turns along the stems, not in pairs. The upper sides are dark green. Fine silver hairs cover the lower sides. This gives the two sides a clear contrast in colour. The RHS says the leaves feel like leather. It also notes their paler lower sides. Small leaves and twiggy stems give this evergreen its form.

Purple flowers grow in loose racemes, or flower clusters. They grow at the stem tips. Each cluster can reach about four inches, or ten centimetres, long. Each corolla, the petals of a flower, can reach about half an inch long. The RHS says the flowers nod and have an urn shape. This shape gives the plant its bell-heath name. The flowers are large next to the small leaves beneath them. The RHS says they bloom from early summer through autumn. The plant thus keeps its leaves while blooming across several seasons. Its flowers sit at the ends of shoots, above the leafy stems.

Oregon State lists sun as the light this plant needs in gardens. It gives USDA Zone 6 as the plant's hardiness threshold. The sources give no upper limit for hardiness. They give no soil or watering advice for this species. In gardens, the main traits they describe are its low evergreen form and purple flowers. The sources give no facts about its fruit or edible parts. They list no uses as medicine. Nor do they state whether the plant is toxic. They give no account of pests or diseases for this species.