Heliotropium convolvulaceum var. californicum

Morning-glory heliotrope

Family: Heliotropiaceae · Type: annual · Native

Morning-glory heliotrope is a California native annual found in the southern desert bioregion in sandy soils and dunes at elevations below 700 meters. Flowering from April to October, this plant produces white flowers 8 to 15 millimeters wide, opening late in the afternoon and closing the next morning with a slightly fragrant white corolla. Growing with ascending to erect stems 7 to 18 centimeters tall that are canescent (soft and grayish-white), it has a distinct taproot. Its leaves are 1 to 4 centimeters long, elliptic to ovate, dense-strigose, and generally petioled with an acute tip. The fruit consists of four long soft-hairy nutlets that emerge from the plant's swollen green-yellow flower throat.

Habitat: Sandy soils, dunes

Bloom period: Apr-Oct

Elevation: < 700 m

Bioregions: D

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.