- Family:
- Boraginaceae Juss.
- Genus:
- Euploca Nutt.
Euploca ovalifolia (Forssk.) Diane & Hilger

[FWTA]
Boraginaceae, H. Heine. Flora of West Tropical Africa 2. 1963
- Morphology General Habit
- Diffuse densely white-villous stems from a woody base and taproot
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Small white flowers in cymes 2-3 in. long.
[FZ]
Boraginaceae, E. S. Martins (Trichodesma by R. K. Brummit). Flora Zambesiaca 7:4. 1990
- Morphology General Habit
- Erect or decumbent annual or perennial herb up to 60(90) cm. high with a thin rootstock; stems pubescent, woody or subwoody to the base, branches often laterally compressed and silvery-sericeous to the extremities.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves numerous, alternate; petiole 2–20 mm. long, pubescent to villous; lamina 10–60 x 4–30 mm., obovate or elliptic, pubescent, strigose-villous or tomentose on both surfaces, with hairs of two kinds, long and hardy, appressed and with swollen bases, some weak, short and spreading, at least on the basal leaves, the others, rounded to retuse, rarely subacute but always apiculate or mucronate at apex, acute or subacute at base, margins slightly revolute.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Cymes dense, up to 17 cm. long when completely developed, often 2, sometimes 1 or 3, rarely 4 together; common peduncle 2–4(6) cm. long.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers subsessile but pedicels increasing up to 2 mm. in fruit and decurrent on the rhachis.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx lobes unequal, the largest one up to 3.0 x 1.0 mm. (6.0 x 1.5 mm. in fruit), ovate, the smallest one 1.0–2.0 x 0.2–0.4 mm., lanceolate, strigose outside and inside.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla pubescent outside, glabrous inside save by a ring of flattened hairs (sometimes lacking) at the level of the anther tips, usually with yellow tube and white limb; tube 1.5–3.0 mm. long, slightly widened at the middle; lobes 0.5–1.5(2.0) x 0.4–1.5 mm., unequal or subequal, broadly ovate to triangular-ovate, suberect, apex acute or apiculate.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens inserted on the lower third of the corolla tube; anthers 0.7–1.2 mm. long, narrowly lanceolate, minutely hairy at apex, subsessile.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Pistil
- Style very short; stigmatic ring well-marked; sterile appendix 0.3–0.6 mm. long, conical with apex truncate or minutely 2-dentate, glabrous or shortly hairy.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruits c. 1.5 x 2.0 mm., subglobular depressed, densely clothed with whitish appressed short hairs; nutlets 4, free, with the inner surfaces without cavities.
[FTEA]
Boraginaceae, B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1991
- Morphology General Habit
- Usually a perennial herb 7–90 cm. long or tall with thick woody taproot and stems branched, procumbent, woody at the base but sometimes erect and apparently sometimes annual (?flowering in first year); stems often compressed, very leafy, silky-silvery pubescent on the young branches.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaf-blades obovate or elliptic, 0.5–5.5 cm. long, 0.25–2.5 cm. wide, retuse but mucronate or apiculate or less often acute at the apex, cuneate at the base, pubescent to strigose-villous, often silvery on both surfaces, the hairs of two sorts, longer and tubercle-based and shorter and thinner, the margins entire, narrowly thickened, only the costa distinctly visible; petiole up to 1.5(–2) cm. long.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Cymes 1–3, terminal, scorpioid, spike-like, often paired, at first often very short and ± capitate, 1.5–15 cm. long, strigose; flowers disposed in 2 ranks, at first subsessile; peduncles up to 3.5 cm. long; pedicels accrescent, 0.5–2 mm. long finally decurrent.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx 1.6–3.5 mm. long, strigose outside, persistent and accrescent in fruit, deeply divided into unequal lanceolate lobes, 1.5–3.3 mm. long, 0.3–1.2 mm. wide.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla white, often yellow at the throat, strigose-pubescent outside with adpressed hairs; tube cylindrical, enlarged at the middle, (1.4–)2.3–3.7 mm. long, with a ring of adpressed hairs inside at tops of anthers; lobes broadly elliptic to ovate-triangular, erect or spreading, 0.7–1 mm. long, 0.4–1.5 mm. wide, the acute apices sometimes inflexed.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary subglobose, 0.5 mm. diameter, glabrous or pubescent at the tip.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Stigma
- Stigma sessile, conic with basal crown, 0.5–0.7 mm. long, truncate or sometimes very shortly bifid with several erect hairs at apex.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruits subglobose, flattened, 1.7–2 mm. diameter, 4-lobed and breaking into 4 nutlets, the external face densely covered with short ± adpressed white hairs; internal faces devoid of cavities.
- Figures
- Fig. 19/6, p. 71.
- Habitat
- Essentially a plant of wet places in dry bushland, etc., e.g. on sand in A. seyal woodland near water, sandy beaches by dry country rivers, dried mud around pools in grassland, salt pans, also on black cotton soil near irrigation channels; ± 0–1635 m.
- Distribution
- K1 K4 K6 K7 P T1 T2 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 Senegal to Ethiopia and Somalia to South Africa and Angola,also introduced into Pacific and Taiwan
[FSOM]
M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS
- Morphology General Habit
- Prostrate to erect herb or subshrub with stems up to 0.9 m long or tall, silvery pubescent with short hairs and longer tubercle-based hairs
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaf-blades obovate to elliptic, 0.5–6 x 0.25–3 cm, cuneate at the base, retuse and apiculate or sometimes acute at the apex; petiole up to 1.5(–2) cm long
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Flowers on 0.5–2 mm long pedicels, in simple or branched 1.5–15 cm long cymes
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx silvery pubescent; lobes lanceolate, unequal, 1.5–3.3 mm long
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla white or with yellow throat, appressed pubescent outside; tube 2–3.7 mm long; lobes 0.7–1.5 mm long, acute
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Stigma
- Stigmatic head sessile, conical, 0.5–0.7 mm long, hairy at apex
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Nutlets 4, 1.5–2 mm long, densely covered with short hairs.
- Distribution
- N2; C1, 2; S1–3 widespread in tropical Africa, Madagascar, Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, India, also introduced elsewhere.
- Ecology
- Altitude range 50–720 m.
Native to:
Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, India, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesser Sunda Is., Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Senegal, Socotra, Solomon Is., Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Turkey, Uganda, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Introduced into:
Chagos Archipelago, Ogasawara-shoto
- Heliotropium apiculatum E.Mey. ex DC.
- Heliotropium brocchianum Vis.
- Heliotropium cinereum R.Br.
- Heliotropium coromandelianum J.Koenig ex Retz.
- Heliotropium coromandelianum var. depressum (Cham.) DC.
- Heliotropium coromandelianum var. oblongifolium DC.
- Heliotropium coromandelianum var. ovalifolium Lehm.
- Heliotropium gracile R.Br.
- Heliotropium kunzii Lehm.
- Heliotropium niloticum DC.
- Heliotropium obovatum D.Don
- Heliotropium ovalifolium Forssk.
- Heliotropium ovalifolium var. gracile (R.Br.) Domin
- Heliotropium phyllosepalum Baker
- Heliotropium polystachyum Poir.
- Heliotropium sienites DC.
- Heliotropium syenites Spreng.
- Heliotropium tomentosum Poir.
- Heliotropium villosum Sieber ex DC.
- English
- Forget-me-not, Grey-leaf heliotrope
Euploca ovalifolia (Forssk.) Diane & Hilger appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 1, 1984 | Brown, R. [2924], Australia | Heliotropium gracile | K000998264 | Yes | |
Aug 1, 1880 | Brown, R. [s.n.], Queensland | Heliotropium gracile | K000998263 | Yes | |
Brown, R. [s.n.], Queensland | Heliotropium gracile | K000998265 | Yes | ||
Thozet, A. [s.n.], Queensland | Heliotropium gracile | K000998266 | Yes | ||
Jan 1, 2009 | Heath [1449], Botswana | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000450150 | No | |
Jan 1, 1987 | Scott, L. [s.n.], Mozambique | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418766 | holotype | Yes |
Jan 1, 1922 | Hunter [s.n.], Tamil Nadu | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000998215 | Yes | |
Drege [s.n.], South Africa | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418750 | Yes | ||
Drege [s.n.], South Africa | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418751 | Yes | ||
Drege [s.n.], South Africa | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418755 | Yes | ||
Drege [s.n.], South Africa | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418754 | Yes | ||
Rehmann, A. [5295], South Africa | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418753 | Yes | ||
Kotschy [7] | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418800 | Yes | ||
Kotschy [146], Ethiopia | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418801 | Yes | ||
Kotschy [146], Ethiopia | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418802 | Yes | ||
Lehmann [s.n.], Egypt | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418817 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [s.n.], Pakistan | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000998214 | Yes | ||
Wallich, N. [Cat. no. 2089], India | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K001115097 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 2089] | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K001115098 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 2089] | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K001115095 | Yes | ||
Chamisso, L.A.von [s.n.], Guam | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000998325 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 2089], India | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K001115096 | Yes | ||
Gill [s.n.], South Africa | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418752 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 2089] | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K001115094 | Yes | ||
Kotschy [333], Sudan | Heliotropium ovalifolium | K000418799 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 7016], India | Heliotropium coromandelianum | K001126577 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 7016] | Heliotropium coromandelianum | K001126575 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 7016] | Heliotropium coromandelianum | K001126574 | Yes | ||
s.coll. [Cat. no. 7016] | Heliotropium coromandelianum | K001126576 | Yes | ||
Jun 22, 1848 | Kotschy [333], Sudan | Heliotropium kunzii | K000418803 | Yes |
First published in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 125: 48 (2003)
Accepted by
- Brundu, G. & Camarda, I. (2013). The Flora of Chad: a checklist and brief analysis. PhytoKeys 23: 1-18.
- Dobignard, A. & Chatelain, C. (2012). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 4: 1-431. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
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Flora Zambesiaca
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Flora of Somalia
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Flora of Tropical East Africa
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Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
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