Heliotropium curassavicum L.

vernacular salt heliotrope — species · Boraginaceae

USDA: HECU3
GBIF: 2925786
Rank: species

salt heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum) — Platephotograph · Will PearceCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Forb/herb, Subshrub
Duration: Annual, Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Boraginaceae Juss.
Genus: Heliotropium

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
HI Hawaii Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native
PR Puerto Rico Native
VI U.S. Virgin Islands Native

§2b

County-level range

· 11 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 11 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Medium
Salinity: High
Anaerobic: Low
CaCO₃: None
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 110 min.
Precipitation: 10–24 in/yr
pH range: 6.5–8.5
Root depth: 10 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 1.2 ft
Foliage texture: Coarse
Foliage colour: Gray-Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: No
Propagation: seed, sprigs

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: No Known Source
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Low
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 11 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 11 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/HECU3 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2925786 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z