Heather (Calluna vulgaris)
Also known as:
red heather, Scotch heather, Ling
Heather is a shrub with prominent bell-shaped flowers. It outcompetes native plants, especially in alpine areas
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How does this weed affect you?
Heather forms a dense canopy that can outcompete native plants, especially in alpine regions.
What does it look like?
Heather is an evergreen perennial shrub that grows 0.5-1.25 m tall. Heather can be a low-lying mat-like plant or an upright ball-shaped bush or dwarf tree, depending on the environment. New growth is very hairy, older growth becomes hairless.
Leaves are:
- dark green when young, then brown
- scale-like, up to 3.5 mm long
- oblong, triangular or elongated
- sometimes downy, covered with fine soft hairs
- stalkless
- in opposite pairs along the stem with each pair at right angles to the pair above.
Flowers are:
- usually pale purple, sometimes pink or white
- bell-shaped with four petals and 4 similar looking sepals
- about 2 mm long
- clustered along stalks up to 9 cm long
- papery and brown when older
- mainly present in winter.
Fruit are:
- round capsules with four compartments
- 2-2.5 mm in diameter
- densely covered in short white hairs
- enclosed inside brown papery sepals.
Seeds are:
- reddish-orange
- 0.7 mm long and 0.5 mm wide
- oblong
- mostly shed during late autumn.
Stems are:
- green when young
- woody when older.
- are fibrous
Roots:
- form dense mats.
Similar looking plants
Heather looks similar to these introduced Erica species:
- Spanish heath (Erica lusitanica), which has thin needle-like leaves up to 7 mm long and 1 mm wide. It can grow up to 3.3 m high and its white or pink flowers are up to 5 mm long.
- Tree heath (Erica arborea), which has needle-like leaves up to 7 mm long and 0.7 mm wide. It has white or pink flowers up to 3mm long.
Where is it found?
In 2024 an isolated naturalised plant was found in the South East region of NSW. Naturalised plants have also been recorded in Tasmania.
Heather is native to Europe, northern Africa and Asia minor. It is a major weed in New Zealand and throughout North America.
What type of environment does it grow in?
Heather grows in cold temperate climates, especially alpine regions and is very frost tolerant. It grows best in full sun. Plants growing in partial shade have less shoots and flowers. Heather tolerates very wet and dry soils. It prefers acidic soils and can grow in areas with low nutrients.
Heather grows:
- in heathlands and scrubland
- in woodlands
- in alpine wet bogs
- above the tree line in mountain areas
- in grasslands, on poor acidic soils.
How does it spread?
By seed
Heather spreads by seeds. Young plants flower in their second year if the conditions are favourable. Each plant can produce tens of thousands of seeds, with up to one million seeds produced per square metre. Seeds can remain viable for up to one hundred years. Seeds sprout when they are exposed to light and germination increases after fire.
Seeds are spread by:
- wind
- moving water
- animals
- attaching to clothing
- vehicles and machinery.
By plant parts
There is no reports of long distance spread by plant parts However, heather can spread out from an existing infestation. When stems bend over and are in contact with moist soil they can produce roots and form new plants.
References
CRC Weed Management (2003). Weed Management Guide: Heather (Calluna vulgaris). Cooperative Research Centre Weed Management.
Identic Pty Ltd. and Lucid (2016). Environmental Weeds of Australia Fact sheet: Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull. Retrieved: 24 October 2025 from: https://keyserver.lucidcentral.org/weeds/data/media/Html/calluna_vulgaris.htm
Tasmania Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE 2024). Weed Risk Assessment: Calluna vulgaris. Online at Weed Risk Assessment: Calluna vulgaris. Retrieved 24 October 2025 from: https://nre.tas.gov.au/Documents/Calluna-vulgaris-assessment.pdf
Victoria Resources Online (VRO 1996-2024b). Impact Assessment - Heather (Calluna vulgaris) in Victoria. Online at https://vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/pages/impact_heather (accessed 15 April 2024).
WeedBusters New Zealand (2025). Calluna vulgaris. Weed Information sheet. Retrieved 24 October 2025 from: https://www.weedbusters.org.nz/what-are-weeds/weed-list/heather/
More information
Control
Successful weed control relies on follow-up after the initial efforts. This means looking for and killing regrowth or new seedlings. Using a combination of control methods is usually more successful.
Because there are no known heather infestations in NSW, new infestations could be eradicated if found early. Contact your local council weeds officer if you think you have found heather plants.
Physical removal
By hand
This method is suitable for seedlings or other small plants. It is difficult to dig out heather because of its fibrous root system. Plants can regrow from the roots left in the soil. Pulling out the plants often loosens the soil and can release large quantities of seeds.
Slashing and mulching
Slashing can be used with grazing. Frequent slashing encourages resprouting and will not kill plants. Do not slash flowering or fruiting plants.
Disposal
Contact your local council for advice on how to dispose of Heather plants.
Grazing
Intense sheep grazing pressure, especially in spring, will suppress new growth and flowering and may eventually eliminate heather after several years. Large plants may have to be slashed first to give sheep access to new shoots. Light grazing will not control heather.
Chemical control
Spot spraying
Spray actively growing plants. Cover all the foliage.
Splatter gun
Splatter-guns use small amounts of concentrated herbicide. They spray large droplets that limit spray drift. They are useful for very dense infestations of weeds that are difficult to reach.
Herbicide options
WARNING - ALWAYS READ THE LABEL
Users of agricultural or veterinary chemical products must always read the label and any permit, before using the product, and strictly comply with the directions on the label and the conditions of any permit. Users are not absolved from compliance with the directions on the label or the conditions of the permit by reason of any statement made or not made in this information. To view permits or product labels go to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website www.apvma.gov.au
Users of agricultural or veterinary chemical products must always read the label and any permit, before using the product, and strictly comply with the directions on the label and the conditions of any permit. Users are not absolved from compliance with the directions on the label or the conditions of the permit by reason of any statement made or not made in this information. To view permits or product labels go to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority website www.apvma.gov.au
See Using herbicides for more information.
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Fluroxypyr 200 g/L
(Various products)
Rate: 500 mL to 1 L per 100 L water
Comments: Spot spray
Withholding period: Do not graze failed crops and treated pastures or cut for stock feed for 7 days after application. See label for further information.
Herbicide group: 4 (previously group I), Disruptors of plant cell growth (Auxin mimics)
Resistance risk: Moderate
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Fluroxypyr 333 g/L
(Starane™ Advanced)
Rate: 300 to 600 mL per 100 L water
Comments: Spot spray
Withholding period: Do not graze failed crops and treated pastures or cut for stock food for 7 days after application. See label for more information.
Herbicide group: 4 (previously group I), Disruptors of plant cell growth (Auxin mimics)
Resistance risk: Moderate
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Glyphosate 360 g/L
(Various products)
Rate: One part product to 50 parts water
Comments: Spot spray
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: 9 (previously group M), Inhibition of 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate-3 phosphate synthase (EPSP inhibition)
Resistance risk: Moderate
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Glyphosate 360 g/L
(Various products)
Rate: One part product to 9 parts water
Comments: Splatter gun
Withholding period: Nil.
Herbicide group: 9 (previously group M), Inhibition of 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate-3 phosphate synthase (EPSP inhibition)
Resistance risk: Moderate
PERMIT 9907 Expires 31/03/2030
Metsulfuron-methyl 600 g/kg
(Various products)
Rate: 10 - 20 g per 100 L water. Add non-ionic surfactant (BS-1000 or equivalent) 100 mL per 100 L
Comments: Spot spray
Withholding period: Nil (recommended not to graze for 7 days before treatment and for 7 days after treatment to allow adequate chemical uptake in target weeds).
Herbicide group: 2 (previously group B), Inhibition of acetolactate and/or acetohydroxyacid synthase (ALS, AHAS inhibitors)
Resistance risk: High
Biosecurity duty
The content provided here is for information purposes only and is taken from the NSW Biosecurity Act 2015 and its subordinate legislation, and the Regional Strategic Weed Management Plans (published by each Local Land Services region in NSW). It describes the state and regional priorities for weeds in New South Wales, Australia.
| Area | Duty |
|---|---|
| All of NSW | General Biosecurity Duty All pest plants are regulated with a general biosecurity duty to prevent, eliminate or minimise any biosecurity risk they may pose. Any person who deals with any plant, who knows (or ought to know) of any biosecurity risk, has a duty to ensure the risk is prevented, eliminated or minimised, so far as is reasonably practicable. |
For technical advice and assistance with identification please contact your local council weeds officer.
Reviewed 2026
