Heliotropium europaeumL. European heliotrope

Heliotropium europaeumL. - European heliotrope

Scientific Description:

Annual, with ± soft adpressed hairs. Stems divaricately branched, pale. Leaves ovate, obtuse to subacute, to 35(−40) mm, green or greyish, petiole usually c. ½ as long as lamina. Inflorescence dense, sometimes rather lax in fruit. Calyx subsessile, 2.5 mm, lobes lanceolate, spreading in fruit. Corolla 3–3.5 mm, tube cylindrical, limb short, ± rotate, c. 2.5 mm, hairy outside. Stigma subsessile, conical with an elongate, subfiliform, deeply bifid tip, usually glabrous. Anthers inserted near base of corolla tube. Nutlets glabrous (in Türkiye), grossly tuberculate, rarely nearly smooth.

 

Flowering time: June−September.

Habitat: Orchards, fields, s.l.−1400 m.

 

Reference:

Rield H (1978). Heliotropium europaeum L., In: Davis PH (ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 6: 252.

Public Description:

Heliotropium europaeum, known as “European heliotrope” and “European turnsole”, is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but it is widely naturalized elsewhere, such as in Australia and North America. It is an annual herb with white flowers, and grows up to 40 cm in length. It blooms between June and September and is found in orchards and fields. It is an economically harmful weed because it is toxic to sheep, cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry. In Australia, it has directly caused losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to sheep production.

 

References:

Anonymous 1 (2015). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliotropium_europaeum, Accessed date: 23.12.2015.

Anonymous 2 (2018). https://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/downloads/wra/Heliotropium_europaeum.pdf, Accessed date: 22.03.2018.

Çıngay B (2012). Heliotropium L., In: Güner, A., Aslan, S., Ekim, T., Vural, M. & Babaç, M.T. (eds.), Türkiye Bitkileri Listesi (Damarlı Bitkiler). Nezahat Gökyiğit Botanik Bahçesi ve Flora Araştırmaları Derneği Yayını. İstanbul, pp. 227−228.