It is a low-growing, spreading subshrub reaching 10–25 centimetres (4–10 inches) tall, with evergreen needle-like leaves 4–8 millimetres (1⁄8–3⁄8 in) long, borne in whorls of four.

The first published name for the species was Erica herbacea; however, the name E. carnea (published three pages later in the same book) is so widely used, and the earlier name so little, that a formal proposal to conserve the name E. carnea over E. herbacea was accepted by the International Botanical Congress in 1999.

Unlike most species of Erica, which are typically calcifuges, it tolerates mildly alkaline as well as acidic soils, making it easier to grow in many areas.

Like other species within the genus Erica it is often seen as groundcover amongst plantings of dwarf conifers.

[4] The following cultivars, forms and hybrids have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:[5]