Nebraskaland

64 Nebraskaland • March 2022 MIXED BAG Many naturalists keep "life lists" of species they have observed. A birding and mothing friend, for example, diligently records every bird and moth species he has seen in Nebraska by county. I, however, am not a list keeper, but in the far recesses of my mind, I generally know what plant species I have encountered over my years of botanizing and those I dream of encountering. The latter includes the rare seaside heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum). Seaside heliotrope is a much-branched plant with distinguishing succulent leaves and small, white fl owers elegantly arranged on a coiled stalk that uncoils with maturity. Native to the Americas, the plant occurs from Canada to Argentina, and although common and even weedy in some regions, it is rare and non-weedy in the northern Great Plains growing in saline and alkaline wetlands. Strangely, the plant is a perennial in warm climates and an annual in cool climates, such as ours. Over recent decades in Nebraska, botanists have observed seaside heliotrope once in a Lancaster County salt marsh and a few times in western alkaline marshes. Over my career, when in appropriate habitat, I have kept a keen eye for seaside heliotrope, but alas, my searching was in vain; that is, until late one afternoon this past September. While walking across the dike of a small, restored wetland on our southeastern South Dakota farm, I gazed down on a drying mudfl at and saw a single white-fl owered plant whose identity baffl ed me from afar. Approaching the plant, I noticed the coiled heads of white fl owers and nearly jumped with joy. It was seaside heliotrope, fi nally. With the sun low on the western horizon, I ran back to the farmhouse, grabbed my camera, returned and snapped a few quick photos of the plant. I also pinched-off a branch with fl owers to press and dry for a herbarium specimen. These would serve as evidence if my botanist wife or others doubted my claim. Because rare plants usually occur in fairly pristine, native habitats, I questioned why seaside heliotrope was growing in our recently restored wetland, which was previously a crop fi eld. After a bit of research, I came up with a theory. Seaside heliotrope grows in alkaline wetlands in two South Dakota counties about 100 miles north of our farm. I speculate that a southward-bound duck or other waterbird carried a seed from these sites, either undigested in their gut or imbedded in mud caked to their feet, to our wetland, whose soils are somewhat alkaline. When the wetland dries, a thin, white alkaline crust sometimes forms on the soil surface. I am curious to see if seaside heliotrope will sprout in the wetland in coming years — I never got back to see if the lone plant produced seed. Although I was a bit disappointed not to have found seaside heliotrope in Nebraska, I am still checking it off my dream list. SEASIDE HELIOTROPE — A DREAM PLANT By Gerry Steinauer, Botanist, NGPC The seaside heliotrope. GERRY STEINAUER, NGPC

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