Heliotrope (Heliotropium), a genus of plants of the natural order Boraginæ (q.v.); of the section, sometimes made a distinct order, Ehretiacæe, the fruit separating only when ripe into four carpels. Many of the species have fragrant flowers. The Peruvian Heliotrope (H. Peruvianum), a shrub with oblong-lanceolate wrinkled leaves and small lilac-blue flowers, is in almost universal cultivation for its fragrance, which resembles that of vanilla or cherry-pie. Many seminal varieties of this species are cultivated in gardens. They delight in rich light soil, and are propagated by cuttings of the young growing shoots in a moist warm atmosphere. The European or Common Heliotrope (H. Europæum), a native of the south and west of Europe, is an annual with small white, or rarely pale red, flowers. Large quantities of the flowers are used by perfumers for making scents.—Classical fable accounts for the name heliotrope (Gr. hēlios, 'the sun,' and tropō, 'I turn') by representing Clytia as turned into this flower through gazing at Apollo.