Heliotropium indicum

Heliotropium indicum, commonly known as Indian heliotrope, Indian turnsole is an annual, hirsute plant. It has a curved arrangement of small flowers and velvety broad green leaves. Native to Asia and Africa, it is a common weed in waste places and settled areas. It contains toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids but has been used in traditional medicine.

Description

An erect annual herb. It grows 100 cm high and spreads 80 cm wide. The leaves are opposite or alternate. They are hairy and oval. They have obvious veins. The flowers are small and pale violet. They appear on one side of a curled spike at the ends of branches. The curved spike straightens as the flowers open. The fruit are small and composed of two nuts.

Edible Uses

Leaves are eaten as a vegetable, typically fried or boiled.

Traditional Uses

Caution. It contains alkaloids. The leaves are eaten as a vegetable. They are fried.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

In the Philippines, the plant is chiefly used as a traditional medicine. The extracted juice from the pounded leaves of the plants is used on wounds, skin ulcers and furuncles. The juice is also used as an eye drop for conjunctivitis. The pounded leaves are used as poultice. It is widely used in native medicine in Tamil Nadu, India.

Known Hazards

The plant contains the pyrrolizidine alkaloids indicine, indicine-N-oxide, acetyl-indicine, indicinine, heleurine, heliotrine, supinine, supinidine and lindelofidine. Safe in small doses, if consumed regularly or in large quantities they have been shown to have a cumulative toxic effect upon the liver.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in wet grassland savannah. It grows on hills, river banks and open waste places between 0–700 m altitude in China. In Zimbabwe it grows up to 1,100 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 10-12. In Yunnan.

Where It Grows

Africa, Amazon, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, East Africa, East Timor, Guiana, Guianas, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Laos, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, North America, Pacific Islands, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe, SE Asia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Southern Africa, South America, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Africa, West Indies, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Originally from S. America, the plant has spread and become naturalized through much of the tropics and subtropics. Plants can flower all year round.

Other Uses

The whole plant is buried and, after the fleshy tissue has rotted away, the remaining fibre is used to make false hair for women.

Notes

Used in medicine. There are about 250 Heliotropium species. The leaves are boiled to increase a mother's milk supply.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Da wei yao, Hathi-sura, Hatisur, Indian turnsole, Isi-udele, Morai de flor larga, Ogbe akuko, Sin-hna-maung, Sin-let-maung, Suyouxo, Wild clary, Yah-nguang-chang

References (27)

• Achigan-Dako, E, et al (Eds), 2009, Catalogue of Traditional Vegetables in Benin. International Foundation for Science.
• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 261
• Batawila, K., et al, 2007, Diversite et gestion des legumes de cueillete au Togo. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development 7( 3& 4): 64
• Biswas, K. & Das, A. P., 2011, Documentation of wild leafy vegetables from the tribal dominated parts of Malda District of Paschimbanga, India. Recent Studies in Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge in India 301 - 306. 2011.
• Burkill, I.H., 1966, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol 1 (A-H) p 1154

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