Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Heliotropium amplexicaule
Blue Heliotrope
Boraginaceae
Woodland, grassy areas, roadsides, gardens, other disturbed sites, and along waterways. Sydney area and north, west to Cowra, and south to west of Dapto. Occasionally elsewhere. Doubtfully naturalised in the ACT.
Introduced perennial herb to 0.30 m high, sprawling to prostrate, 30–200 cm in diameter. Stems very hairy with simple and glandular hairs. Highly aromatic. Leaves alternating along the stems, 2–8 cm long, 3–20 mm wide, sticky hairy, matgins wavy, tips pointed or blunt. Flowers purple, lilac, blue, or pinkish, with a yellow throat, 4-6 mm long, 3–6 mm in diameter, tubular with 5 lobes. Flowers stalkless on one side of the coiled branched stem when young but the stalk, the stem soon elongating. Flowering: mostly spring–autumn.
General Biosecurity Duty all NSW. Noxious weed Vic.
PlantNET description: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Heliotropium~amplexicaule (accessed 19 January, 2021)
This identification key and fact sheets are available as a free mobile application: