Heliotropium indicum L.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Boraginaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Erect herb, to 1 m tall, many-branched at upper portion; stems 4-angled, young parts with long white hairs. Leaves alternate or nearly opposite; blades 4-17 x 2-9 cm, ovate or elliptic, chartaceous, sparsely covered with long white hairs, vein prominent on lower surface, the apex acute or short-acuminate, the base obtuse to nearly rounded, tapering into a 4-10 cm long petiole, the margins wavy. Flowers in terminal, coiled, unbranched spikes, 15-25 cm long. Sepals green, awl-shaped, 2-3 mm long with setulose hairs; corolla white, lilac, or light blue, urceolate, the tube 3-4 mm long, pubescent without, the lobes spreading, 0.5-1 mm long; anthers and stigma included in tube. Fruit pyriform, emarginate at apex, with 2 nutlets separating at apex, 2.5 mm long.
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Distribution
An uncommon herb in open and disturbed areas. Lameshur (A2572, A2736). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, Tortola, Virgin Gorda; throughout the Greater Antilles and Trinidad.
Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Virgin Gorda Virgin Islands South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|