Find out more about heather

Heather is a bushy, evergreen shrub with twiggy stems.  

Usually lots of heather plants grow together forming a thick, bushy carpet, sometimes up to half a metre tall. This helps the plant to survive the strong winds on the moors.

Heather has tiny, narrow leaves shaped like the needles on a Christmas tree. This stops the plant from losing too much water out of its leaves as the winds blow across the moors.

These special design features or adaptations help heather to survive in this harsh environment.

Three types of heather grow on the North York Moors.

Bell heather has dark pink or purple flowers and generally flowers first in late July.

Cross leaved heath has leaves arranged in crosses of four on its stems. It has pale pink flowers and can often be found in boggy areas.

Ling is the most common type of heather found on the North York Moors. It has very tiny pink flowers and generally flowers in mid to late August.

The scientific or Latin name for ling is Calluna vulgaris. Calluna means ‘to sweep’. Local people used to use heather to make a type of broom called a besom to sweep their cottage floors.

Pollen from heather makes excellent honey and local bee keepers often bring their hives on to the moors in the summer when the heather comes into flower.

Heather burning

A lot of moorland in Britain is managed to suit a bird called the red grouse. This is a game bird which means people pay to shoot it for sport. Find out more about grouse shooting here.  The money from grouse shooting is used to look after the moors and this helps a lot of other special plants, birds and invertebrates that live there too. 

Red grouse eat young heather shoots but they like to shelter and build their nests in taller, older heather.  Gamekeepers therefore have to make sure there are some patches of young heather and some patches of old heather on the moors.

If the heather is left alone it grows very tough and woody and eventually the plants collapse. To avoid this happening the gamekeepers burn the heather when it gets old but they just burn a few small patches every year - this is called rotational burning. Burning takes place over the winter and early spring when there are no birds nesting on the ground and the soil is wet. The fires are small and carefully controlled so they don’t spread or damage the peaty soil. The following year new green shoots grow from underground stems.

The moors often look like a patchwork quilt with some patches of short, young heather for grouse and sheep to eat and some patches of taller, older heather for grouse to shelter and nest in.  This creates a more diverse habitat which is better for many other special plants and animals too.

Find out more about heather in the Wildlife Spotters Guide 

Remember  - never start a fire on the moors!

Fires can spread very quickly and cause serious damage.