Travel to Eat
Alkali Heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum var. oculatum). Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada
The oculatum variety of Heliotropium curassavicum is much larger with thick fleshy leaves and stems more of a gray green color. The flowers are also much larger but have the same colors and uncoiling spike, a flower-studded fiddleneck. It becomes a somewhat erect shrub 2 feet (0.6 m) in height and can spread several feet along the ground. The plants are hairless, but lightly dusted with a white powder that easily rubs off. The plants colonize exposed alkaline or saline soils and the banks of streams and washes in arid western U. S. and Baja California. The name Quail’s Delight has also been used with this variety. The two versions of this plant are often confused because the observer has not seen both types.
Alkali Heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum var. oculatum). Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada
The oculatum variety of Heliotropium curassavicum is much larger with thick fleshy leaves and stems more of a gray green color. The flowers are also much larger but have the same colors and uncoiling spike, a flower-studded fiddleneck. It becomes a somewhat erect shrub 2 feet (0.6 m) in height and can spread several feet along the ground. The plants are hairless, but lightly dusted with a white powder that easily rubs off. The plants colonize exposed alkaline or saline soils and the banks of streams and washes in arid western U. S. and Baja California. The name Quail’s Delight has also been used with this variety. The two versions of this plant are often confused because the observer has not seen both types.