Erect shrub up to 1m with stiff branches; easily confused with Erica coccinea.

Leaves 3-nate, incurved, variable; flowers tubular, inflated and hanging on longish flower stalks, pinkish-red to cream; anthers long and protruding from corolla, looking like an artist's paint brush.

Latin: penis = tail, tuft of hairs; -cillus = small; -atus = indicates possesion or likeness; referring to paint brush-like anther tuft of hairs.

After: Leonard Plukenet (1642-1706), Queen's botanist to Mary II of England.