I was here in 2015 and then I struggled hard to find a single Heliotropium nigricans with a flower! That is how heavily browsed these plants were then. This time the winter rains were good and to this day provided excellent growth for the favourite fodder of the hundreds of thousands of goats on Socotra – grasses! This is the reason why this species has not been touched so far this season, and thus produced amazing specimens now in full bloom.
If the winter rains are good several years in succession, this species could grow to its full potential to more than a meter in height, so this one is perhaps halfway there.
Last updated on 8 November 2024
