Heliotropium indicum
L.
Blue heliotrope
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(c) Melissa McMasters, some rights reserved (CC BY)
no rights reserved, uploaded by 葉子
What to Eat
Edible parts: Medicine, Leaves
Leaves are eaten as a vegetable, typically fried or boiled.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
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.
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,
How to Identify
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.
Nutrition Score: 56/100
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leaves | 44.6 | 882 | 211 | 4.8 | — | — | 10.3 | 1.8 |
How to Grow
Originally from S. America, the plant has spread and become naturalized through much of the tropics and subtropics. Plants can flower all year round.
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.
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.
Wikipedia
Source ↗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.
Notes
Used in medicine. There are about 250 Heliotropium species. The leaves are boiled to increase a mother's milk supply.
Names & Synonyms
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
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