Octopus Bush

Heliotropium arboreum is a species of flowering plant in the family Heliotropiaceae. 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. The leaves are light green, silvery in sheen and silky in texture. The flowers are tiny and white, and the fruits are small, opaque and fleshy. The bark is light grey-brown and corrugated. Octopus bush is used in many Pacific islands as a traditional medicine to treat ciguatera fish poisoning, which is caused by ciguatoxins produced by microscopic algae. Researchers believe that senescent leaves contain rosmarinic acid and its derivatives, and think that rosmarinic acid removes the ciguatoxins from their sites of action.