To discuss common heliotrope on Victorian farms

Common heliotrope (Heliotropium europaeum L.) is an opportunistic annual weed that grows in ‘disturbed’ areas (i.e. areas of bare or sparsely vegetated soil) following summer rain in regions with a Mediterranean climate (hot dry summers, cool wet winters). In its natural habitat, which includes most of the rim of the Mediterranean Sea, farming practices result in there being few disturbed areas during summer, hence common heliotrope is not such a problem. However, in the dry-land cropping belt of southern Australia, the wholesale clearing of native vegetation and the endemic broad acre agricultural practices leave vast areas of fallow, hayed-off pasture and sparse stubble over summer; all of which are ecologically speaking ‘disturbed’, and hence fantastic habitat for common heliotrope.