Heliotropium europaeum
European heliotrope
Family: Heliotropiaceae · Type: annual · Not Native
European heliotrope is a naturalized annual found in northern and central Sierra Nevada Foothills, Great Valley, Central Coast, San Francisco Bay, and North Coast ranges in open, often disturbed sites at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces white flowers in small salverform clusters 3 to 5 millimeters in diameter. Growing with ascending to erect stems 5 to 40 centimeters tall that are puberulent and soft-hairy, it develops a distinct taproot. Its leaves are elliptic to ovate, 1.5 to 5 centimeters long, with an obtuse tip and covered in short, appressed hairs. The fruit consists of four irregularly roughened nutlets that are faintly tubercled.
Habitat: Open, often disturbed sites
Bloom period: May-Aug
Elevation: < 1400 m
Bioregions: n&c SNF, GV, CCo, SnFrB, MP
California counties: Tehama, Yolo, Mendocino, Glenn, Butte, Napa, Shasta, Tulare, Colusa, Solano, Sacramento, Sutter, Modoc, Alameda, San Diego, El Dorado
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.