Heliotropium indicum, commonly known as Indian heliotrope, is an annual, hirsute plant that is a common weed in waste places and settled areas. It is native to Asia.

Description

Indian heliotrope is an annual, erect, branched plant that can grow to a height of about 15 to 50 cm. It has a hairy stem, bearing alternating ovate to oblong-ovate leaves. It has small white flowers with a green calyx; five stamens borne on a corolla tube; a terminal style; and a four-lobed ovary.

Common names

• Indian heliotrope (English
  English language
  English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
  
  )
• Indian turnsole (English)
• Erysipela plant (English)
• Bigotitos (Spanish
  Spanish language
  Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
  
  )
• Trompa elefante (Spanish)
• Lengua de Sapo (Spanish)
• Elepante (Cebuano
  Cebuano language
  Cebuano, referred to by most of its speakers as Bisaya , is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people mostly in the Central Visayas. It is the most widely spoken of the languages within the so-named Bisayan subgroup and is closely related to other Filipino...
  
  )
• Kambra-kambra (Cebuano)
• Buntot-leon (Tagalog
  Tagalog language
  Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
  
  )
• Trompa ng elepante (Tagalog)
• Kuting-kutingan (Tagalog)
• Pengñga-pengñga (Ilocano)
• Vòi voi (Vietnamese)
• Hatisur (BENGALI)
• Thel kodukku (Tamil)

Economic importance

In the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, the plant is chiefly used as an herbal medicine. The extracted juice from the pounded leaves of the plants is used to cure wounds, skin ulcers and furuncles. The juice is also used as an eye drop for conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis refers to inflammation of the conjunctiva...

. The pounded leaves are used as poultice

Poultice

A poultice, also called cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds such as cuts...

.