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Heliotropium arboreum

Heliotropium arboreum
Photo: Forest & Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0

Heliotropium arboreum is a shrub or small tree from tropical coasts, grown for its velvety leaves and white flowers. It needs full sun, good drainage and warm conditions, and tolerates salt and dry spells.

Family
Heliotropiaceae (Heliotropi family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then let the top of the soil dry between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained sandy or loamy soil; tolerates poor, sandy coastal soils.
Temperature
18–35 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
S. Somalia to Mozambique and Pacific
Climate
wet tropical

About

Heliotropium arboreum is a species of flowering plant in the family Heliotropiaceae. It is native to tropical Asia including southern China, Madagascar, northern Australia, and most of the atolls and high islands of Micronesia and Polynesia. Common names include velvetleaf soldierbush, tree heliotrope, veloutier, and octopus bush. It is a shrub or small tree typical of littoral zones reaching a height of 3.6 m (12 ft), with a spread of about 5 m (16 ft).

Other Heliotropium plants

Clasping heliotrope · Garden heliotrope · Salt heliotrope · Heliotropium ellipticum · European heliotrope · Heliotrope

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Heliotropium arboreum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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