"Light on the budding leaf, dew on the feather,
Wind on the open hill, bells on the heather..."
Goldberry's song of greeting
from
The Fellowship of the Ring I 6,
The Old Forest
A hardy shrub that grows most commonly on high moors and heaths, noted for its distinctive pink-purple drooping flowers (the 'bells' in Goldberry's song quoted above). Heather was common throughout Middle-earth, and it could be found all across the northern lands, from Bree (where 'Heathertoes' was a family name) at least as far to the east as Rivendell. It was also known to grow freely much further to the south, in the land of Ithilien.
Notes
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The evolution of the modern name 'heather' may have been influenced by the fact that the plant is commonly found growing on tracts of open land known as 'heaths'. This connection does not, however, seem to be present in its original Old English name.
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- Updated 1 April 2020
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