Blue Heath is a notoriously rare, dwarf evergreen shrub with a spread confined to a handful of high Scottish mountain tops, as it relies on prolonged snow cover to insulate it against harsh winter frosts. It was first discovered on the Sow of Atholl in 1810, one of the isolated places where it still manages to survive. With climate change creating milder, wetter winters now common across the world, the Blue Heath has an ongoing threat to its survival in Scotland.
In the Scots Gaelic Nam / A' Mhèinnearach is a possessive, meaning ‘of the Menzies’, referencing the Scottish Clan Menzies, with the plant sometimes colloquially called the Menzies’ heath.
