''Erica comorensis'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

(angiosperms) in the heather family (

Ericaceae The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acidic and infertile growing conditions. The family is large, with c.4250 known species spread across 124 genera, making it th ...

). It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Comoro Islands The Comoro Islands or Comoros (Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northwes ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. It grows from .5 to 2 meters high. Leuschner, Christoph (1996). "Timberline and Alpine Vegetation on the Tropical and Warm-Temperate Oceanic Islands of the World: Elevation, Structure and Floristics". ''Vegetatio'', Vol. 123, No. 2 (Apr., 1996), pp. 193-206. Accessed 11 August 2021. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20048667 ''Erica comorensis'' is found at high elevations on Grand Comore, where it is the predominant species in the dry ericaceous scrubland from 1800 to 2200 meters elevation. There is one recognized subspecies, ''Erica comorensis'' subsp. ''anjurensis'' (Alm & T.C.E.Fr.) Dorr & E.G.H.Oliv.., which is found on the island of

Anjouan Anjouan (; also known as Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and historically as Johanna or Hinzuan) is an autonomous high island in the Indian Ocean that forms part of the Union of the Comoros. Its chief town is Mutsamudu and, , its population is around 277,500. ...

.Dorr L. J. & Oliver E.G.H. (1999). "New taxa, names, and combinations in Erica (Ericaceae-Ericoideae) From Madagascar and the Comoro Islands". ''Adansonia'' 1999 21 (1): 75-91.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15377650 comorensis Endemic flora of the Comoros Plants described in 1909 Taxa named by Adolf Engler