Erica afra


Erica afra, the water heath, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Erica. It's a small tree, sometimes a shrub, that grows in riparian habitats and on forest edges and occurs from the Western Cape to the Drakensberg of KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho. The tree's flowers look like bells. The tree's national tree number is 572.

Taxonomy

The etymology of the original species name caffra is related to kaffir, an ethnic slur used towards black people in Africa. At the July 2024 International Botanical Congress, a vote was held with the result that "caffra" related names will be emended to afra related ones, with the implementation of this being done at the end of July 2024.