Heath vs. Shrub — What's the Difference?

A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler and damper climate.

A shrub (or bush, but this is more of a gardening term) is a small- to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground.

Any of various usually low-growing shrubs of the genus Erica and other genera of the heath family, native to Europe and South Africa and having small evergreen leaves and small, colorful, urn-shaped flowers. Also called heather.

A woody plant of relatively low height, having several stems arising from the base and lacking a single trunk; a bush.

An extensive tract of uncultivated open land covered with herbage and low shrubs; a moor.

A beverage made from fruit juice, sugar, and a liquor such as rum or brandy.

A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation; heathland.

A woody plant smaller than a tree, and usually with several stems from the same base.

Any small evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae.

(Kenyan English) A word mispronounced by replacing some consonant sounds with others of a similar place of articulation due to interference from one's knowledge of an indigenous Kenyan language.

Many of the species in the genus Erica

A liquor composed of vegetable acid, fruit juice (especially lemon), sugar, sometimes vinegar, and a small amount of spirit as a preservative. Modern shrub is usually non-alcoholic, but in earlier times it was often mixed with a substantial amount of spirit such as brandy or rum, thus making it a liqueur.

Many of the species in the genus Cassiope

(obsolete) To lop; to prune.

Both species in the genus Daboecia

To mispronounce a word by replacing some consonant sounds with others of a similar place of articulation due to interference from one's knowledge of an indigenous Kenyan language.

Any of the species in the genus Epacris, Australian heath

A liquor composed of vegetable acid, especially lemon juice, and sugar, with spirit to preserve it.

Any of the species in the genus Leucopogon, beard heath

A woody plant of less size than a tree, and usually with several stems from the same root.

Any of the species in the genus Phyllodoce, mountain heath

To lop; to prune.

(countable) Certain butterflies and moths

A low woody perennial plant usually having several major branches

The palearctic species of Coenonympha, a genus of brush-footed butterfly

Melitaea athalia, the heath fritillary

Semiothisa clathrata, a moth known as the latticed heath

A low shrub (Erica vulgaris or Calluna vulgaris), with minute evergreen leaves, and handsome clusters of pink flowers. It is used in Great Britain for brooms, thatch, beds for the poor, and for heating ovens. It is also called heather, and ling.

A place overgrown with heath; any cheerless tract of country overgrown with shrubs or coarse herbage.

A low evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae; has small bell-shaped pink or purple flowers

A tract of level wasteland; uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation