Cross-leaved heath Erica tetralix is one of 3 species of heather that grow in eastern England, the others being bell heather and ling. All three are perennial evergreen sub-shrubs.
Of the three, cross-leaved heath is perhaps the most tolerant of base-rich conditions and the only one you tend to be able to see away from acid heathland sites; although as it is a species of drier boggy and slightly acid fen habitats, the places it grows are sometimes hard to access.Its bell-shaped flowers usually comes in a dusky pink shade (bell heather is more carmine, ling a dull lilac-purple) and the white flowers here are very unusual: in fact this was the only white flowered plant we saw across the whole of Winterton Dunes NNR on Saturday.

Other than the flower colour the species can be identified quite easily because the leaves grow in clusters of 4, arranged in across shape around the stem section, hence the common name of the plant, and the leaves are dull-grey-green and rather hairy