WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Also called Bindweed Heliotrope and Wide-flower Heliotrope, this sand-loving plant develops 4–16-inch tall, sprawling to erect, branching, hairy stems. Note the small flowers on the branch tips with a 5-sided white, crape-paper-like disk with a tiny yellow throat.

FLOWERS: May–September. White, fragrant flowers funnel-shaped with 5 united lobes spread 5/8–1-inch wide (15–25 mm); stamens and style hidden inside the yellow throat; stem and sepals very hairy.

LEAVES: Alternate. Blade lance-shaped to elliptic, 3/8–1 1/2-inches long (1–4 cm), 3/8–5/8-inch wide (10–15 mm), tip rounded to pointed, margins entire, hairy; surfaces hairy.

HABITAT: Sandy soils, dunes, arroyos, disturbed areas; desert scrub, oak shinneries, juniper-savannas, grasslands.

ELEVATION: 4,300–6,300 feet.

RANGE: AZ, CA, CO, KS, NM, NV, OK, TX, UT.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Salt Heliotrope, Heliotropium curassavicum, inhabits much the same range but favors saline, alkaline soils, is hairless, has succulent leaves, and 3/8-inch wide (9 mm) flowers on a coiled stem tip. Fragrant Heliotrope, Euploca greggii, in the southern half of NM, favors seasonally wet areas , has hairy, narrow, linear leaves, and is perennial with rhizomes.

NM COUNTIES: Eastern and western NM in sandy habitats: Bernalillo, Chaves, Cibola, Curry, Colfax, De Baca, Dona Ana, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Lea, Luna, Otero, Quay, Roosevelt,  San Juan, Sandoval, Sierra, Socorro, Union, Valencia.