Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Heliotropium curassavicum
cola de escorpion, seaside heliotrope, scorpion weed
Low-growing herb with fleshy, smooth, bluish stem and yellow-purplish flowers. Fruit consists of 4 nutlets (McMullen 1999).
Prefers coastal regions and is distinguishable with its fleshy leaves (McMullen 1999).
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Lamiales
Family
Boraginaceae
Genus
Heliotropium
Species
curassavicum
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Heliotropium curassavicum var. violaceum Ram. Goyena, H. lehmannianum Bruns fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010)
Origin: Native
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: The native range of this species is Australia, Hawaiian Islands, Tropical & Subtropical America (POWO, 2023).
- Jaramillo, P. (1998) Distribución Espacial de la Vegetación Vascular y Dispersión de Especies Introducidas dentro del Parque Nacional Galápagos. Tesis de Doctorado en Biología, Universidad Central del Ecuador. Especialización ECOLOGIA DE POBLACIONES.
- McMullen, C.K. (1999) Flowering plants of the Galapagos. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 370 pp.
- Hooker, J.D. (1847) An Enumeration of the Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago; with descriptions of those which are new. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20: 163-233.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
- Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
- Robinson, B.L. (1902) Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapgaos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38(4): 78-270.
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
- Riley, L.A.M. (1925) Critical Notes on Galápagos Plants (St. George Pacific Expedition, 1924). Kew Bull. Misc. Info. 1925(5): 216-231.
- Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
- Schönitzer, K. (1975) Galápagos Plants. Privately Published, Quito: 1-43.
- Hooker, J.D. (1847) On the Vegetation of the Galápagos Islands as Compared with that of some other Tropical Islands Of the Continet of America. Trans. Linn. Soc. London 20: 235-262.
- Andersson, N.J. (1858) Flora of the Galápagos Islands (translated from Swedish). Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Academien Botanik 1: 3-34
- Andersson, N.J. (1861-1862) Ueber Die Vegetation der Galapagos-Inseln Linnaea 31: 571-631
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Heliotropium curassavicum", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=14592. Accessed 8 July 2025.