Flora of New Zealand Series

winter heliotrope

Perennial herb with stout rootstock and rhizomes. Basal lvs glabrous on upper surface, hairy on veins and otherwise sparsely hairy on lower; petiole hairy, > lamina, (4)-7-25-(35) cm long; lamina reniform, cordate, obtuse at apex, regularly dentate, (2)-6-18 cm diam. Infl. a corymb, appearing with or after lvs, with up to 10-(20) capitula, erect, 15-35 cm tall; cauline lvs 1-3, with broad sheathing amplexicaul base and often a reduced lamina. Supplementary bracts 2-4, lanceolate, 3-7 mm long. Involucral bracts 12-14, oblong-elliptic, 8-12 mm long. Ray florets 8-13; ligules pale pink to purple, 4-5 mm long. Disc pink to purple. Achenes not formed.

N.: Auckland City, Palmerston North; S.: locally established in vicinity of settlements in Canterbury, Westland, Otago and Southland; St.: Halfmoon Bay.

N. Africa 1904

Waste places, stream and ditch edges, coastal sites, and under trees, usually in damp sites.

FL Jun-Sep.

Poisonous (Connor 1977).

In N.Z., as in Europe, winter heliotrope is represented by male plants only; it is successful in reproducing vegetatively and may form large dense patches in suitable habitats. It is cultivated for the sweet-scented capitula which appear in winter. Winter heliotrope is vegetatively similar to Tussilago farfara, but the lvs of that sp. have shallow triangular lobes which are again denticulate. Winter heliotrope has been previously recorded in N.Z. as P. officinalis and P. vulgaris.