Heliotropium humifusum

Euploca humifusa
syn. Heliotropium humifusum Kunth  

Matlike Heliotrope
Family: BORAGINACEAE 
Cayman Islands, Cuba and Hispaniola

It was found by Wilfred Kings on the 1938 Oxford University Expedition to the Cayman Islands, on Grand Cayman and Little Cayman, and by George R. Proctor on Cayman Brac (1992).

FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor p.563, Plate 53

Heliotropium humifusum Kunth in H.B.K., Nov. Gen. & Sp. 3:85, t. 205. 1818.

Cayman Islands Red List status: Data deficient, suspected to be at risk   

 Matlike Heliotrope at Watler Cemetery, May 11, 2014

A dense, matlike, suffrutescent shrub, diffusely branched, clothed throughout with stiff white strigose hairs mostly with pustulate bases.

LEAVES: densely overlapping, rigid, lance-oblong, acute at the apex and 1-nerved, attached to the stem by a broad base.

FLOWERS: Calyx strigose, 2–3 mm long; corolla white with yellow eye, the tube scarcely exceeding the calyx, the expanded limb 2–3 mm across or more. Stigma capitate on a short style.

FRUIT: subglobose, enclosed by the calyx, the nutlets hispidulous.

Proctor’s FLORA Glossary p.694:
Strigose – bearing appressed, sharp, straight, stiff hairs.

Suffrutescent – a stem which is woody and perennial at the base, but has a upper herbaceous portion that dies back at the end of a growing season. The term is also used to mean ‘slightly shrubby’.

GRAND CAYMAN: Crosby, Hespenheide & Anderson 37 (GH, MICH): Kings GC 59, GC 123; Proctor 15159, 52241; Sauer 4214 (WIS).
LITTLE CAYMAN: Kings LC 48, LC 78; Proctor 28129, 35137.
CAYMAN BRAC: Proctor 35154

Cuba and Hispaniola, usually in gravel-filled pockets of dry, exposed limestone, or in sandy clearings. Cuban plants of this affinity growing on serpentine appear to represent a different species, though usually identified as being the same.

 
Crosby, Hespenheide and Anderson, June 2, 1963 
June 2, 1963 #37.   East of George Town in sand behind beach. Locally common. Flowers white with yellow centers; growing completely recumbent in sand.
M. R. Crosby, H. A. Hespenheide, W. R. Anderson, det C.D. Adams 1963. 
Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium at Florida State University.
 

Cayman Herbarium, Heliotropium humifusum, Watler Cemetery, Jenny Lane June 30, 1992

Cayman Herbarium, Heliotropium humifusum, Juniper Bay, Cayman Brac, Proctor, July 26, 1992

  June 24, 2012 Watler Cemetery, Prospect Point, Grand Cayman
Cayman Herbarium 

Matlike Heliotropes at the Watler Cemetery, Prospect Point, Grand Cayman,June 24, 2012  
CaymANNature Flora IMAGES 

May 9, 2014 Brenda Quin's plant, Parsons Circle, George Town, Grand Cayman

 May 11, 2014 Watler Cemetery, Prospect Point, Grand Cayman

 About ten years ago, Brenda Quin saw lots Heliotropium humifusum plants growing in a dry area in the vicinity of the Blow Holes, on the landward side of the main road (south coast). She described it as a ground cover with minute, white, star-shaped flowers. She tried growing one in a pot, but it didn’t take. A palm tree grew in the same pot. 

A year ago she transplanted the root-bound palm tree into a larger pot. In early May, 2014, the little ground cover emerged from a seed or root that had been dormant in the soil for about ten years.

May 9, 2014 Brenda Quin's Matlike Heliotrope - Heliotropium humifusum 
that had been dormant for about 10 years

 

Brenda Quin, 86 years old, with her little Matlike Heliotrope that had been dormant for about 10 years,
in pot with palm tree. George Town, Grand Cayman, May 9, 2014

A few tiny plants flowering by the house-shaped grave-markers at the Watler Cemetery, May 11, 2014.

CaymanCultural images

Matlike Heliotrope - Heliotropium humifusum habitat -
Pedro St. James bluff, Grand Cayman,
many little plants in flower, growing on the harsh, ironshore environment, May 28, 2015.

Matlike Heliotrope - Heliotropium humifusum,
Pedro St. James bluff, Grand Cayman, May 31, 2015.

Matlike Heliotrope - Heliotropium humifusum,
plant dries to grey so is well-camouflaged against the ironshore. 
Pedro St. James bluff, Grand Cayman, May 31, 2015.

Ironshore plants - young Silver Thatch (Coccothrinax proctorii), 
Juniper (Rhachicallis america), Seaside Twintip (Stemodia maritima) and
Matlike Heliotrope in the centre. 
The rust-coloured rock is consolidated Terra Rosa that had been swept into cavities in the rock formation.

Islands from the Sea, Geologic Stories of Cayman
by Murray A. Roed, 2006

Lots of little compact Matlike Heliotrope (Heliotropium humifusum)
plants that dry to grey, well-camouflaged against the flattened ironshore. 
Pedro St. James bluff, Grand Cayman, May 31, 2015.

Looking across Old Jones Bay to Pedro St. James bluff,
harsh environment of Heliotropium humifusum, May 31, 2015.

 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Cayman Islands 
 

Euploca ternata  (Vahl) J.I.M. Melo & Semir

Euploca ternata (Accepted name)   

= Heliotropium ternatum Vahl, Symb. Bot. 3:21. 1794.    (synonym)

Bushy Heliotrope 

FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor p.563, Fig.209 
Cayman Islands Red List status: Data deficient   

Bushy Heliotrope - Heliotropium ternatum, High Rock, Grand Cayman 
Ann Stafford, Feb. 3, 2008

A mostly erect, bushy shrub up to 1.5 m tall, densely white-pubescent throughout.

LEAVES rigid, alternate, opposite or in whorls of 3, sharply acute at the apex, the hairs on the upper side with pustulate bases, the margin usually revolute.

FLOWERS few in short terminal spikes; calyx 3–4 mm long, white-strigose; corolla white with yellow eye, the tube 4 mm long, the expanded limb mostly 3–4 mm across.

NUTLETS subglobose, black.

GRAND CAYMAN: Brunt 2007. 2199; Proctor 15195.

West Indies and continental tropical America, in dry sandy or rocky thickets.

Bushy Heliotrope - Heliotropium ternatum, East End, Grand Cayman 
Ann Stafford, Aug. 8, 2010

Heliotropium ternatum, Grand Cayman, Martin Brunt

Coral/limestone ridge bordering the sea, Half Moon Bay, June 13, 1967

Heliotropium ternatum (Dominica)
July 18, 1964 R. L. Wilbur, E. L. Dunn, H. A. Hespenheide, D. R. Wiseman

 

Duppy Bush and Duppy Bush Moth

CaymANNature Flora photos

Duppy Bush 

Duppy Bush Phyllanthus angustifolius (Sw.) Sw  Family: EUPHORBIACEAE, Vulnerable 

Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Swan Islands (Honduras) 

Seaside Laurel - Jamaica (Flowering Plants of Jamaica, 1972. C.D. Adams p.410)

Foliage Flower, Sword Bush - US – not native

Duppy Bush grows very easily in different habitats, seeds itself and is a good landscaping plant - as a hedge or stand-alone shrub.

Shrub, monoecious (separate staminate and pistillate flowers on the same plant), leaves absent except on seedlings or when the plant starts to grow after being cut back to the ground. Flowers are in small staminate or bisexual clusters at notches of the PHYLLOCADES - green flattened stems, ALTERNATE, that resemble leaves.

Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor 2012 p.444, Fig.159, Plates 37 & 38. 

 This plant had been cut back to the ground and has little, rounded leaves

Duppy Bush flowers and fruits on the edge of the flattened stems (phyllocades).

Duppy Bush growing on Grand Cayman's IRONSHORE, (foreground).

Photo: Ann Stafford, north coast, March 19, 2004.

Duppy Bush flowers & fruits, Will Burrard-Lucas photo
Will Burrard-Lucas, wildlife photographer, visited the Cayman Islands in May, 2012.

Duppy Bush Moth

Duppy Bush Moth or White-tipped Black moth - Melanchroia chephise (Cramer), Family: GEOMETRIDAE.

Duppy Bush moth on Snake Wood / Red Heart - Colubrina arborescens, 
Family: RHAMNACEAE, Critically Endangered.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman, June 28, 2009.

 The Duppy Bush day-flying moth caterpillar is a looper.

The larvae do not seem to harm Duppy Bush - Phyllanthus angustifolius, one of thier larval food plants.

However, Melanchroia chephise larvae also feed on leaves and bark and can strip and kill Phyllanthus acidus trees – Chellamella (Cayman), Gooseberry (Guyana), Otaheite Gooseberry, West Indian Gooseberry and other common names.

Photo: Lois Blumenthal, Grand Cayman, Sept. 2, 2008.

Chellomello, West Indian Gooseberry, Otaheite Gooseberry - Phyllanthus acidus  (L.)

This tree is called Chellomello or Chellamella in Cayman. 

(Flora of the Cayman Islands, Proctor 2012 p.440).

  CaymANNature Butterflies, Moths and their Plants

In Jamaica it is called Cheramina, Jimbling,  Otaheite Gooseberry, Short Jimbelin, Jimbilin.

(Flowering Plants of Jamaica, 1972, C.D. Adams, p.407 and 376.)

 It is also called West Indian Gooseberry.  Tahiti was formerly known as Otaheite.  

Phyllanthus acidus is probably native to northeast coast of Brazil and has been frequently wrongly been ascribed to Madagascar, India or Polynesia. It is cultivated pan-tropically.

References:

Flowering Plants of Jamaica, 1972, C.D. Adams, p.407 and 376.

Flora of the Cayman Islands, 2012, George R. Proctor, p.440.

CaymANNature Flora photos

 Grand Cayman Nature Tours

 

Earth Day - Cayman’s native plants for native wildlife

Cayman’s native plants for native wildlife in my Caribbean garden, 

George Town, Grand Cayman:

Red Bean/Immortelle/Cockspur Tree – Erythrina velutina Critically Endangered

Fustic – Maclura tinctoria Critically Endangered (dioecious), this tree bears staminate flowers

Fiddlewood – Petitia domingensis Endangered

Bull Thatch – Thrinax radiata, Critically Endangered

Parrot Berry – Bourreria venosa with Bald Pate/White-crowned Pigeon

Mahogany – Swietenia mahagoni Endangered

Snake Wood – Colubrina arborescens Critically Endangered  

Strawberry – Eugenia axillaris 

Also in the picture, or just out of it, are

Wild Spanish Armada – Alvaradoa amorphoides Endangered

Trichilia – Trichilia havanensis Critically Endangered

Cedar – Cedrela odorata Critically Endangered

Wild Calabash - Elaeodendron xylocarpum Critically Endangered (not the same as Calabash)

Clam Cherry - Cordia laevigata Critically Endangered

Burn Nose – Daphnopsis americana Critically Endangered

Broadleaf – Cordia sebestena var. caymanensis* Vulnerable

Wild Cinnamon – Croton nitens Endangered

Duppy Bush – Phyllanthus angustifolius

Cajon – Colubrina cubensis

Ghost Orchid – Dendrophylax fawcettii* Critically Endangered

Old George – Hohenbergia caymanensis* Critically Endangered

Banana Orchid – Myrmecophila thomsoniana var. thomsoniana* Endangered

Dollar Orchid – Prosthechia boothiana Near Threatened

Smoke Wood – Erythroxylum areolatum

Lancewood – Randia aculeata

Slingshot (Wild Jasmine) – Tabernaemontana laurifolia  Endangered

Jessamine (Cestrum) – Cestrum diurnum Vulnerable

Pepperleaf Sweetwood – Licaria triandra Critically Endangered

Pepper Cinnamon – Canella winterana Critically Endangered

* endemic

Photo: Ann Stafford, April 19, 2014

Bulrush - Zamia integrifolia (= Z. pumila), ZAMIACEAE, Critically Endangered,
male plant on left, female plants on right, Grand Cayman.
Ann's garden, photo: Ann Stafford, Apr. 22, 1012

Christmas Berry - Allophylus cominia var. caymanesis, Family: SAPINDACEAE, Cayman Islands endemic variety, Near Threatened.
A shrub with tiny flowers, which will have become bright red berries by Christmas time.
Ann's garden, photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Oct. 8, 2012

click here for more plants   Cayman Plants

Banana Orchid - Myrmecophila thomsoniana, Cayman Islands National Flower, endemic, Endangered.
M.t. var. thomsoniana - Grand Cayman only
M.t. var. minor - Little Cayman and Cayman Brac only.
Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, June 3, 2013.

Myrsine - Myrsine acrantha, Family: MYRSINACEAE, Critically Endangered
and non-native Christmas/Manila Palms.
Ann's garden, Feb.6, 2013.

Click  here for  CaymANNature

Click here for  Grand Cayman Nature Tours

 Bull hoof - Bauhinia divaricata, Family: FABCAEAE,
a favourite nectar flower of Grand Cayman's endemic Swallowtail butterfly.
Ann's Garden, March 22, 2010.

Click here for   CaymANNature Flora photos 

 Queen or Soldier larvae, Danaus sp. on 

Red Top (Scarlet Milkweed) - Asclepias curassavica, their larval food plant.
Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Grand Cayman, Dec. 24, 2006.

 Queen butterfly - Danaus gilippus, Family: DANAIDAE,
nectaring on Red Top (Scarlet Milkweed) - Asclepias curassavica.
Photo: P. Ann van B. Stafford, Grand Cayman, Nov. 21, 2004.

Me and My Caribbean Garden

Me and My Caribbean Garden

Amateur Gardening Magazine, 4 January 2014

Britain’s best-selling weekly gardening magazine

Pages 42-47

Ann Stafford’s Caribbean garden, Websterville, George Town, Grand Cayman. 

It is a garden for wildlife: native plants as well as horticultural plants, little Anole lizards, birds, bees, butterflies and other insects. The plants are adapted to surviving drought in the dry season and flooding, after torrential downpours, in the wet season.

Photos by Andrea Jones, March 2013

Andrea Jones Photography

CaymANNature

Cayman Islands Native Plants Consultant

Grand Cayman Nature Tours

CaymANNature Photo Galleries

CaymANNature FLORA photos

Reading the landscape - Plants, Salt and Water

Cayman Sports photos, from 1974