''Heliotropium curassavicum'', commonly called salt heliotrope (among other names), a species of flowering plant in the borage family (

Boraginaceae Boraginaceae, the borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees and herbs in 146, to 156 genera with a worldwide distribution. The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single family of the or ...

). It is native to much of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, including the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and Hawaii. It can be found as an introduced, and sometimes invasive, species in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe. It thrives in salty soils, such as beach sand, alkali flats, and salt marshes. It is often found in disturbed coastal sites.

Description

This is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

which can take the form of a prostrate creeper along the ground to a somewhat erect

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

approaching in height. The stem and foliage are fleshy, with the leaves thick and oval or spade-shaped. The plentiful

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s are curled, coiling double rows of small bell-shaped

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s. Each flower is white with five rounded lobes and a purple or yellow throat. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a smooth nutlet.

Names

Due to its wide geographical range that spans many nations and languages, '' Heliotropium curassavicum'' has been given an assortment of common names. In English, these include seaside heliotrope, salt heliotrope, monkey tail, quail plant and Chinese parsley. In

Latin American Spanish The different varieties of the Spanish language spoken in the Americas are distinct from each other as well as from those varieties spoken in the Iberian peninsula, collectively known as Peninsular Spanish and Spanish spoken elsewhere, such as in ...

, it is known as ''cola de mico'', ''cola de gama'' or ''rabo alacrán''. It is called ''kīpūkai'' in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Taxonomy

There are five currently recognized varieties. These are: *''H. curassavicum'' var. ''argentinum'' - Native to the tropics of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, including

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. *''H. curassavicum'' var. ''curassavicum'' - Globally widespread, native from the eastern U.S. to Argentina, and naturalized on seashores elsewhere. *''H. curassavicum'' var. ''fruticulosum'' - Endemic to the San Juan and Mendoza provinces of Argentina. *''H. curassavicum'' var. ''obovatum'' - Widespread in western North America and Chihuahua, Mexico. *''H. curassavicum'' var. ''oculatum'' - Native from southwestern Utah to

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. Image:Heliotropium curassavicum var curassavicum.jpg, Variety ''curassavicum'' has the smallest flowers, only 2.5-3.5 mm wide ( Bahia Honda Key, Florida) Image:Heliotropium_curassavicum_1.jpg, Variety ''obovatum'' has flowers 5–10 mm wide, with yellow or slightly purple-tinged throats (

Moapa Valley, Nevada Moapa Valley is an unincorporated town in Clark County, Nevada, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 6,924. The valley in which the community lies, also named Moapa Valley, is about long and lies roughly northwest to sou ...

) Image:Seaside heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum) (5968544497).jpg, Variety ''oculatum'' has flowers 3–5 mm wide with purple throats (

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

)

References

External links

* *
Jepson Manual TreatmentCalflora photo gallery
curassavicum Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Halophytes Flora of Hawaii Flora of North America Flora of South America {{Asterid-stub