heather vs heliotrope

heather

noun
  • A purple colour with a tint of pink and blue. 

  • A plant in the family Ericaceae. 

  • Various species of the genus Erica. 

  • Various species of the genus Cassiope. 

  • An evergreen plant, Calluna vulgaris, with spiky leaves and small purple, pink, or white flowers. 

  • The use of interwoven yarns of mixed colours to produce flecks. 

adj
  • Of a purple colour with a tint of pink and blue. 

heliotrope

noun
  • A light purple or violet colour. 

  • Particularly, a purple-flowered plant of the species Heliotropium arborescens. 

  • A bloodstone (a variety of quartz). 

  • An instrument, employed in triangulation, that uses a mirror to reflect sunlight toward another, very distant, surveyor. 

  • The fragrance of heliotrope flowers. 

  • A plant that turns so that it faces the sun. 

adj
  • Light purple or violet. 

  • Keeping one’s face turned toward the sun. 

How often have the words heather and heliotrope occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )