HELIOTROPES 395 



Seeds should be sown in heat, about March, in pots of light loam. 

 In June the young plants should be gradually hardened, and planted out 

 about the end of that month. Cuttings should be inserted in sandy soil 

 on bottom heat, and kept shaded until well-rooted, when the hardening 

 process may be begun, preparatory to planting outside. 



HELIOTROPES 



Natural Order Boragine^. Genus Heliotropium 



Heliotropium (Greek, helios, the sun, and trope, a turning, from the 

 ancient belief that it turned with the sun). A genus consisting of over 

 a hundred species of herbs and under-shrubs, with alternate leaves and 

 small blue or white flowers, in cymes which are rolled inwards. The 

 calyx is four- or five-lobed ; the corolla funnel- or salver-shaped, with five 

 regular lobes. The stamens agree in number with the corolla-lobes 

 and alternate with them. The species are found chiefly in the Tropical 

 and Sub-tropical regions of the Old and New Worlds, and several species 

 are natives of Europe. 



mstory. '^^® European species of Heliotrope were naturally 



the first to be introduced to this country, but they do not 

 appear to have been much sought after, and this was probably due to 

 their small size. R. indicum, H. curassavicum, and H. parviflorum 

 were introduced from the West Indies in 1713, 1731, and 1732 respect- 

 ively; but the species that has always been the favourite— ZT. peruvianum 

 —on account of its sweet scent, was not introduced from Peru until 

 1757. The yellow-flowered H. luteum came from North Africa in 1779, 

 and K corymhosum from Peru in 1808. H. convolvulaceum, from New 

 Mexico, dates only from 1867. The Heliotrope, or " Cherry Pie," used 

 for summer bedding, and of which there are numerous forms, are all 

 varieties of H. pei^uvianum. 



Principal Species. Heliotropium anchus^folium (Anchusa - leaved). 

 Summer Heliotrope. Stem branched, hairy, 2 feet high. 

 Leaves elliptic, downy, with wavy margins. Flowers violet-blue, 

 similar to those of H. peruvianum, but inodorous; May. Introduced 

 from Argentina, 1829. A sub-shrub requiring stove treatment. 



H. CONVOLVULACEUM (Con vol vulus-Hke). Stems 2 feet high. Leaves 

 lance-shaped, varying in width. Flowers fragrant, white, opening at 

 night ; June to August. Hardy annual. 



H. CORYMBOSUM (corymb-flowered). Stem 4 feet high. Leaves 



