Turnsole (Heliotropium indicum, Sp. Pl.: 139 (1753))

Family: Boraginaceae

Author: L.

Bibliography: Sp. Pl.: 139 (1753)

Year: 1753

Status: accepted

Rank: species

Genus: Heliotropium

Vegetable: False

Observations: Peru to Brazil and N. Argentina

Description

Turnsole, scientifically known as Heliotropium indicum, is a notable plant belonging to the Boraginaceae family. First recorded in the seminal work “Species Plantarum” published in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus, this plant holds a significant place in botany due to its widespread distribution and unique characteristics.

Heliotropium indicum can be found in various regions stretching from Peru to Brazil and extending into northern Argentina. Its presence across these diverse geographies highlights its adaptability to different climatic conditions and soil types.

This plant is often recognized by its vibrant appearance and distinctive traits that have intrigued botanists and plant enthusiasts alike. Turnsole typically features a compact form with small, bright, and attractive flowers that follow the sun, a characteristic that is reflected in its common name. The term “turnsole” itself is derived from Latin roots that mean “turning towards the sun,” a nod to the plant’s heliotropic behavior.

Turnsole serves various ecological roles in its native habitats. It is not only a key component of the local flora but also supports various forms of wildlife, providing nectar for a range of pollinators. Its ability to establish itself in different environments makes it a valuable study subject for understanding plant adaptation and resilience.

In conclusion, Heliotropium indicum, or Turnsole, is a fascinating and ecologically important plant with a broad habitat range from Peru to northern Argentina. Documented extensively since the mid-18th century, it continues to captivate those who study and observe it, embodying the diversity and adaptability of the natural world.

Common Names

Eng: indian heliotrope, turnsole, eye bright
Spa: alacrancillo
Por: crista-de-galo, crista-de-peru, fedegoso, gervão-branco
Fra: herbe papillon, herbe à verrues, monte au ciel
Swe: indisk heliotrop
Khm: ប្រមោយដំរី
En: Turnsole, Indian heliotrope, INDIA HELIOTROPE, လပှ်စိင်၊ တၞံ, Eye Bright, Indian Turnsole, White cleary, Wild Clary, Alacrancillo
Ar: رقيب الشمس الهندي
Bm: Nɔɔnsiku
Bn: হাতিশুঁড়
Zh: Da wei yao, 大尾摇, 狗尾草
Fr: Herbe papillon, Monte au ciel, Herbe à verrues, Grosse verveine, Herbe à pian, Verveine à pian, Herbe a malingres, Héliotrope d’Inde, Verveine pian, Crête dinde, Crête coq, Herbe à papillons
Ht: Vèvenn pyan
Id: Sangketan
Jv: Tlalé gajah
Km: ប្រមោយដំរី
Ml: തേൾക്കട
Or: ନାଗଦନ୍ତୀ
Pt: Fedegoso, BA), Borragem-brava(BA), PE), Aguaraciunha-açu, Aguaraá, Borracha (3), Borracha-brava, Cravo-de-urubu, Crista-de-galo(AM, Erva-de-são-fiacre, Escorpião, Fedegoso(CE, Jacuacanga, Tureroque, Turiri, Crista-de-galo, Crista-de-peru, Gervão branco, Gervão-branco
Pt-br: Aguará, Borragem-brava, Erva-de-São-Fiacre
Es: Alacrancillo, Cotorrera, Moco de pavo, Cola de Alacrán
Sv: Indisk heliotrop
Zh-tw: 狗尾草
Ta: தேள் கொடுக்கி
Te: నాగదంతి
Th: หญ้างวงช้าง
Zh-hant: 大尾搖
Vi: Vòi voi

Synonyms

• Heliotropium foetidum (Salisb.)
• Heliotropium anisophyllum (P.Beauv.)
• Tiaridium velutinum (Lehm.)
• Tiaridium indicum var. mexicanum (M.Martens & Galeotti)
• Heliotropium horminifolium (Mill.)
• Eliopia riparia (Raf.)
• Eliopia serrata (Raf.)
• Tiaridium indicum ((L.) Lehm.)
• Heliophytum velutinum (DC.)
• Heliophytum indicum ((L.) DC.)
• Heliotropium africanum (Schumach. & Thonn.)
• Heliotropium lanceolatum (Noronha)
• Heliophytum foetidum (DC.)
• Heliotropium cordifolium (Moench)
• Tiaridium anisophyllum (G.Don)
• Heliotropium parviflorum (Blanco)

Distribution

• Argentina Northeast (native)
• Argentina Northwest (native)
• Bolivia (native)
• Brazil North (native)
• Brazil Northeast (native)
• Brazil South (native)
• Brazil Southeast (native)
• Brazil West-Central (native)
• Paraguay (native)
• Peru (native)
• Alabama (introduced)
• Aldabra (introduced)
• Andaman Is. (introduced)
• Angola (introduced)
• Arkansas (introduced)
• Assam (introduced)
• Bahamas (introduced)
• Bangladesh (introduced)
• Belize (introduced)
• Benin (introduced)
• Borneo (introduced)
• Botswana (introduced)
• Burkina (introduced)
• Burundi (introduced)
• Cambodia (introduced)
• Cameroon (introduced)
• Caprivi Strip (introduced)
• Caroline Is. (introduced)
• Cayman Is. (introduced)
• Central African Repu (introduced)
• Chad (introduced)
• Chagos Archipelago (introduced)
• China South-Central (introduced)
• China Southeast (introduced)
• Christmas I. (introduced)
• Colombia (introduced)
• Comoros (introduced)
• Congo (introduced)
• Costa Rica (introduced)
• Cuba (introduced)
• Dominican Republic (introduced)
• East Himalaya (introduced)
• Ecuador (introduced)
• El Salvador (introduced)
• Ethiopia (introduced)
• Florida (introduced)
• Gabon (introduced)
• Galápagos (introduced)
• Gambia (introduced)
• Georgia (introduced)
• Ghana (introduced)
• Guatemala (introduced)
• Guinea (introduced)
• Guinea-Bissau (introduced)
• Gulf of Guinea Is. (introduced)
• Hainan (introduced)
• Haiti (introduced)
• Honduras (introduced)
• Illinois (introduced)
• India (introduced)
• Indiana (introduced)
• Ivory Coast (introduced)
• Jawa (introduced)
• Kansas (introduced)
• Kentucky (introduced)
• KwaZulu-Natal (introduced)
• Laos (introduced)
• Leeward Is. (introduced)
• Lesser Sunda Is. (introduced)
• Liberia (introduced)
• Louisiana (introduced)
• Madagascar (introduced)
• Malawi (introduced)
• Malaya (introduced)
• Mali (introduced)
• Maluku (introduced)
• Marianas (introduced)
• Maryland (introduced)
• Masachusettes (introduced)
• Mauritius (introduced)
• Mexico Central (introduced)
• Mexico Gulf (introduced)
• Mexico Northeast (introduced)
• Mexico Northwest (introduced)
• Mexico Southeast (introduced)
• Mexico Southwest (introduced)
• Mississippi (introduced)
• Missouri (introduced)
• Mozambique (introduced)
• Myanmar (introduced)
• Namibia (introduced)
• Nansei-shoto (introduced)
• Nepal (introduced)
• Netherlands Antilles (introduced)
• New Caledonia (introduced)
• New Guinea (introduced)
• Nicaragua (introduced)
• Nicobar Is. (introduced)
• Niger (introduced)
• Nigeria (introduced)
• North Carolina (introduced)
• Northern Provinces (introduced)
• Ohio (introduced)
• Oklahoma (introduced)
• Panamá (introduced)
• Philippines (introduced)
• Puerto Rico (introduced)
• Rodrigues (introduced)
• Réunion (introduced)
• Senegal (introduced)
• Seychelles (introduced)
• Sierra Leone (introduced)
• Solomon Is. (introduced)
• South Carolina (introduced)
• South China Sea (introduced)
• Southwest Caribbean (introduced)
• Sri Lanka (introduced)
• Sudan (introduced)
• Sulawesi (introduced)
• Sumatera (introduced)
• Taiwan (introduced)
• Tanzania (introduced)
• Tennessee (introduced)
• Texas (introduced)
• Thailand (introduced)
• Togo (introduced)
• Trinidad-Tobago (introduced)
• Venezuela (introduced)
• Venezuelan Antilles (introduced)
• Vietnam (introduced)
• Virginia (introduced)
• West Virginia (introduced)
• Windward Is. (introduced)
• Zambia (introduced)
• Zaïre (introduced)
• Zimbabwe (introduced)

Additional Images

Flower

Taken Oct 13, 2017 by Hugo SANTACREU (cc-by-sa)

Taken Aug 28, 2019 by Franco Colnago (cc-by-sa)

Taken Feb 27, 2021 by Andy (cc-by-sa)

Taken Oct 13, 2017 by Hugo SANTACREU (cc-by-sa)

Taken Jun 20, 2021 by Prithvijit (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Taken Mar 18, 2021 by donizeti carlos martins (cc-by-sa)

Taken Nov 21, 2020 by Marc Ondo (cc-by-sa)

Taken Oct 13, 2021 by Toledo Vanessa (cc-by-sa)

Taken Nov 9, 2020 by Andi Artsam (cc-by-sa)

Taken May 12, 2021 by Gnagbo Anthelme (cc-by-sa)

Habit

Taken May 6, 2014 by Tela Botanica − Sénégal ENGOUEMENT (cc-by-sa)

Taken May 6, 2014 by Tela Botanica − Sénégal ENGOUEMENT (cc-by-sa)

Taken Mar 25, 2010 by Tela Botanica − Sylvain PIRY (cc-by-sa)

Taken May 6, 2014 by Tela Botanica − Sénégal ENGOUEMENT (cc-by-sa)

Taken May 6, 2014 by Tela Botanica − Sénégal ENGOUEMENT (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Taken Sep 14, 2019 by Sarah Smadja (cc-by-sa)

Taken Apr 17, 2019 by OTS – O. Vargas (cc-by-nc-sa)

Taken Apr 17, 2019 by OTS – O. Vargas (cc-by-nc-sa)

Taken Nov 2, 2015 by EOL − Melanie Schuchart (cc-by-nc)

Taken Jul 12, 2021 by Albert Nutsugah (cc-by-sa)

Bark

Taken Apr 26, 2019 by Prakash Rudraraju (cc-by-sa)

Taken Oct 16, 2022 by Joshua Kuykendall (cc-by-sa)

Taken Jul 12, 2015 by EOL − mmkimberly (cc-by-nc)

Taken Jul 31, 2020 by Hannah Heart (cc-by-sa)

Taken Nov 23, 2016 by Hugo SANTACREU (cc-by-sa)

© copyright of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

© copyright of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

© copyright of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Other

Taken Apr 17, 2019 by OTS – O. Vargas (cc-by-nc-sa)

Taken Apr 17, 2019 by OTS – O. Vargas (cc-by-nc-sa)

Taken Apr 17, 2019 by OTS – O. Vargas (cc-by-nc-sa)

Taken Apr 17, 2020 by Benjamin BAIZET (cc-by-sa)

Taken Jan 26, 2006 by Tela Botanica − Liliane Roubaudi (cc-by-sa)

Sources

• WFO (No URL)
• IPNI (No URL)
• GBIF (https://www.gbif.org/species/2925788)
• POWO (http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:116938-1)
• PlantNet (https://identify.plantnet.org/species/the-plant-list/Heliotropium indicum L.)

Specifications

Growth habit: Forb/herb

Growth