Common Name: Indian Heliotrope

General Information

Heliotropium indicum is an erect, usually much-branched, annual to perennial plant growing up to 1.5 metres tall. The stems are usually woody at the base[].
The plant is often harvested from the wild and used locally for its medicinal virtues.

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[].

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru.

Habitat

Sunny localities, on waste land, in periodically desiccating pools and ditches and anthropogenic habitats, at elevations generally below 800 metres[]. It is widely considered a weed of fields and pastures[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual/Perennial
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

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

Edible Uses

The leaves are, on rare occasions, used as a vegetable[]. This could be unwise - see the notes above on toxicity[].

Medicinal

The plant has been widely used for centuries to treat warts, inflammations and tumours. Throughout tropical Africa it is used as an analgesic to ease rheumatic pain, as a diuretic and to treat numerous skin problems including yaws, urticaria, scabies, ulcers, eczema and impetigo[]. Throughout the Continent, there is a wide variation in the plant parts that are used, and also in methods of preparation and administration[].

A decoction of the whole plant is used to treat thrush, diarrhoea, diabetes, venereal diseases and frequent excretion of urine[]. The whole plant is boiled and the beverage used as a remedy for heat rash[]. It is boiled with Desmodium sp. (ironweed) in a decoction that is used as a purgative of the reproductive system to function as a 'cleanout' for men and women[].
An infusion of the plant is used as an eye-lotion and to clean ulcers[].

The leaves are haemostatic, stomachic[]. An infusion is used as a remedy for asthma, ulcers, dysentery, bronchitis, red eyes, boils etc[]. The leaf juice is used to treat and soothe the pain of conjunctivitis[]. Mixed with coconut oil and a small amount of salt, the leaves are administered to children as a remedy for colds, grippe and coughing[]. The leaves are boiled with Mikania micrantha for treating upset stomachs[].
The powdered leaves are used to treat infected gums[]. A poultice made from the leaves is applied to rheumatic limbs, to wounds and insect bites[].

The flowers are emmenagogue in small doses and abortifacient in large[]. They are used to control menstrual blood loss; yaws; skin ulcers[].

The plant contains the hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids heliotrine and lasiocarpine. The major alkaloid, indicine, shows antitumor activity[].

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[].

Propagation

Seed -

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