Heliotropium amplexicaule flowerhead5 (14630936792)

Description:

Summary.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;background-color:#f8f9fa;padding:5px;font-size:95%;border-spacing:2px;box-sizing:border-box;margin:0;width:100%}.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr{vertical-align:top}.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr>th,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr>th{padding:4px}.mw-parser-output.fileinfo-paramfield{background:#ccf;text-align:right;padding-right:0.4em;width:15%;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table+table.commons-file-information-table,.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table+div.commons-file-information-table>table{border-top:0;padding-top:0;margin-top:-8px}@media only screen and (max-width:719px){.mw-parser-output table.commons-file-information-table,.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table.fileinfotpl-type-information{border-spacing:0;padding:0;word-break:break-word;width:100%!important}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table>tbody,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody{display:block}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr>th,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr>th{padding:0.2em 0.4em;text-align:left;text-align:start}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table>tbody>tr,.mw-parser-output.fileinfotpl-type-information>tbody>tr{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table+table.commons-file-information-table,.mw-parser-output.commons-file-information-table+div.commons-file-information-table>table{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output.fileinfo-paramfield{box-sizing:border-box;flex:1 0 100%;width:100%}} Description: Introduced, warm season, perennial, prostrate herb to 60 cm tall. Leaves and stems are hairy with glandular and non-glandular hairs. Leaves are alternate, lanceolate, deeply veined and stem clasping. Blue to mauve tubular flowers (with yellow stamens and throat) arranged caterpillar-like in 2 rows on one side of the flowering stem (scirpoid cyme). Flowers most of the year, but not in winter in southern areas. Grows on a wide range of soil types. Predominantly in areas that receive at least 50% of average annual rainfall in summer. It is mostly a problem of run down pasture and disturbed areas such as cropping paddocks, roadsides and waste land. Regenerates from seed and vegetatively from pieces of plant and roots. It is spread by water, fur of animals and in the gut of animals. A weed which is toxic to animals, quite invasive and difficult to control. Causes chronic liver damage in cattle, sheep and horses; can be fatal. Cultivation encourages its spread by stimulating germination and regrowth of plant parts. Management requires an integrated approach including herbicides, productive pasture, grazing management and biological control. There has only been one biological control agent released in Australia, the blue heliotrope leaf-beetle. At high densities, leaf-beetles can completely defoliate blue heliotrope, with both the larvae and adults feeding on the leaves. Date: 4 March 2014, 11:15. Source: Heliotropium amplexicaule flowerhead5. Author: Harry Rose from South West Rocks, Australia.