Leonotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae.Raymond M. Harley, Sandy Atkins, Andrey L. Budantsev, Philip D. Cantino, Barry J. Conn, Renée J. Grayer, Madeline M. Harley, Rogier P.J. de Kok, Tatyana V. Krestovskaja, Ramón Morales, Alan J. Paton, and P. Olof Ryding. 2004. "Labiatae" pages 167-275. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor) and Joachim W. Kadereit (volume editor). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume VII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. One species, Leonotis nepetifolia, is native to tropical Africa and southern India. It is naturalized throughout most of the tropics. The other species are endemic to southern and eastern Africa.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant FamiliesMattias Iwarsson and Yvette Harvey. 2003. "Monograph of the genus Leonotis (Pers.) R.Br. (Lamiaceae)". Kew Bulletin 58(3):597-645.
Leonotis was named by Robert Brown in 1810 in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.Robert Brown. 1810. Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen:504. (see External links below). The name means "lion's ear".
The type for the genus is the specimen of Leonotis ocymifolia that was originally described as Leonotis leonitis.Leonotis In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below). It is a specimen of Leonotis ocymifolia var. ocymifolia.
This plant genus is reportedly psychoactive and sedating, with a "high" similar to a that of a small dose of hashish.
Species Leonotis decadonta Gürke - southeast Africa from Burundi + Tanzania south to Mozambique Leonotis goetzei Gürke - Tanzania Leonotis grandis Iwarsson & Y.B. Harvey - Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia Leonotis leonurus (L.) Robert Brown - South Africa, Angola; naturalized in Burundi, Java, St. Helena Leonotis myricifolia Iwarsson & Y.B. Harvey - Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia Leonotis myrothamnifolia Iwarsson & Y.B. Harvey - Malawi, Zambia Leonotis nepetifolia (L.) Robert Brown - sub-Saharan Africa from Ethiopia west to Senegal and south to Transvaal, also Indian subcontinent; naturalized in Morocco, Canary Islands, Southeast Asia, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, much of Latin America; West Indies Leonotis ocymifolia (Burman f.) Iwarsson - eastern Africa from Sudan + Eritrea south to Transvaal Leonotis pole-evansii Hutch. - Zambia
Taxonomy Leonotis is a member of the subfamily Lamioideae. Leonotis might be paraphyletic or even polyphyletic because Leonotis leonurus is not closely related to the other species.Anne-Cathrine Scheen and Victor A. Albert. 2009. "Molecular Phylogenetics of the Leucas Group (Lamioideae; Lamiaceae)". Systematic Botany 34(1):173-181. In 2009, it was shown that Leonotis and 3 other genera are embedded in Leucas, a genus of about 100 species. If the 4 embedded genera were merged with Leucas, the expanded Leucas would have about 132 species.
References
External links
Leonotis (page 504) In: Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen At: bibliography/3678 At:Biodiversity Heritage Library Leonotis At:Index Nominum Genericorum At: References At: NMNH Department of Botany Classification for Kingdom Plantae Down to Genus Leonotis, United States Department of Agriculture German Lion's-Tail Forum IPNI Listing