Facts & Folkore:
The name of this flower is derived from the Greek "helios," 'the sun', and "tropos," 'turning', reflecting the heliotrope's habit of turning towards the sun and following its course around the horizon. This vanilla fragranced plant (which influenced the old-fashioned name of "Cherry Pie") is associated with the sorrowful story of the nymph Clytie, who fell in love with Apollo, the sun god. Apollo spurned her because he was in love with another, and Clytie fell into deep despair, spending every day prone upon the cold, bare earth, her pleading eyes riveted on Apollo in his sun chariot. Out of pity, the gods turned her into a heliotrope, and so for all eternity she follows Apollo's daily journey, her love unchanged.
Click or hover over image.