Pasture heliotrope (Heliotropium tenellum) also is commonly known as slender heliotrope and is a native plant. It inhabits dry areas both...Read More wooded and open, limestone glades and rocky prairies in Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana (threatened), Illinois (endangered), Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia. It can reach 40cm (16inches) in height, but it is usually smaller and has many branched narrow stems. It has a taproot as well as some spreading roots.
The deep green leaves are up to 3cm (1 inch) long and 0.3 cm (0.1inch) wide. They are entire, alternate, have a single midrib and appear gray due to their being covered with short stiff hairs which also cover the stems. The stems often become purplish in strong sun. The 5-lobed, 5-6mm wide flowers occur singly at the leaf axils and at the ends of the branches. The center of the blooms are yellow. The blooms usually first appear in late spring and continue into late summer in some regions and into fall in others. The 4-lobed green unriped fruit will turn into brown, dry nutlets.
Pasture heliotrope (Heliotropium tenellum) also is commonly known as slender heliotrope and is a native plant. It inhabits dry areas both...Read More