The small linear leaves with pale undersides and down-rolled margins grow in whorls of four or five on the wiry stems.

The inflorescence is a fat, leafy spike with a few long-stalked, globular flowers; these are pink or lilac and have brown stamens that protrude from the open mouths.

[3] In Great Britain, it is only found on the Lizard peninsula in southern Cornwall, where the unusual geology gives rise to the acid soils that it favours.

[5] According to one story, this is because when Joseph of Arimathea first arrived in Cornwall looking for tin he had nowhere to stay, so he spent his first night on a bed of Cornish heather.

[6] Like almost all plants in the heath family (Ericaceae), E. vagans requires an acidic or, at the very least, neutral soil to thrive.