The Garden Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) is a highly fragrant perennial plant, originally from Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. It is especially notable for its intense, rather vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...

-like fragrance. Common names include cherry pie and "common heliotrope". Note that the common name "garden heliotrope" may also refer to Valerian (herb)

Valerian (herb)

Valerian is a hardy perennial flowering plant, with heads of sweetly scented pink or white flowers which bloom in the summer months. Valerian flower extracts were used as a perfume in the sixteenth century....

.

During the Victorian era in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 this plant gained great recognition, often appearing in gardens and the herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

borders of parks. Its popularity may have become less in more modern times, but hardy and colourful varieties, such as 'Princess Marina', have ensured that this plant still regularly appears in seed catalogues and garden centres. Other popular varieties include, 'Mary Fox', the highly scented 'White Lady' or 'White Queen' and a taller variety 'Florence Nightingale'. A heliotrope was laid on the coffin of Emily Dickinson.