tree heliotrope
Heliotropium arboreum
Heliotropium arboreum is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It is native to tropical Asia including southern China, Madagascar, northern Australia, and most of the atolls and high islands of Micronesia and Polynesia. Common names include velvetleaf soldierbush, tree heliotrope, veloutier, and octopus bush. It is a shrub or small tree typical of littoral zones reaching a height of 3.6 m (12 ft), with a spread of about 5 m (16 ft).
From the article Heliotropium arboreum on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
In medicine
Octopus bush is used in many Pacific islands as a traditional medicine to treat ciguatera fish poisoning, which is caused by powerful ciguatoxins produced by microscopic Gambierdiscus algae. Scientists from the Institute of Research for Development (IRD) and the Louis Malarde Institute in French Polynesia and Pasteur Institute in New Caledonia are researching the plant chemistry and believe that senescent leaves contain rosmarinic acid and derivatives, which are known for its antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. The researchers think that rosmarinic acid removes the ciguatoxins from their sites of action, as well as being an anti-inflammatory agent.
Wikipedia: “Medicinal”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Heliotropium arboreum in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 769957.