Heliotropiaceae

Heliotropiaceae are a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants with approximately 450 species worldwide, though it is concentrated especially in the tropics and subtropics.

Cochranea (Miers) Post & Kuntze, and the Tournefortia-clade, the latter comprising Tournefortia sect.

[1] Even before that, however, there was already some indication in the field that Heliotropiaceae deserved to be recognized as an independent family.

[5] In broad terms, members of the Heliotropiaceae are quite diverse in that they can be small trees, lianas, shrubs, sub-shrubs, or even perennial or annual herbs.

These plants are also characterized by their terminal styles and highly modified stigmatic heads (basal stigma, infertile apex) as well as by their fruits (one or two-seeded mericarpids or drupes).