{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Italic title}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = ''Leonotis'' (lion's-ear) | image = Leonotis leonurus.jpg | image_caption = ''Leonotis nepetifolia'' | taxon = Leonotis | authority = (C.H. Persoon) R.Br. | type_species = ''Leonotis ocymifolia'' | type_species_authority = (Burman f.) Iwarsson | synonyms_ref = <ref name=a/> | synonyms = *''Leonurus'' <small>Mill. 1754 not L. 1753</small> *''Hemisodon'' <small>Raf.</small> }}
'''''Leonotis''''' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae.<ref name="harley2004">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. {{ISBN|978-3-540-40593-1}}</ref> 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.<ref name=a>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=109426 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref><ref name="iwarsson2003">Mattias Iwarsson and Yvette Harvey. 2003. "Monograph of the genus ''Leonotis'' (Pers.) R.Br. (Lamiaceae)". ''Kew Bulletin'' '''58'''(3):597-645.</ref>
''Leonotis'' was named by Robert Brown in 1810 in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.<ref name="brown1810">Robert Brown. 1810. ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'':504. (see ''External links'' below).</ref> The name means "lion's ear".
The type for the genus is the specimen of ''Leonotis ocymifolia'' that was originally described as ''Leonotis leonitis''.<ref name="ingleonotis">''Leonotis'' In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see ''External links'' below).</ref> It is a specimen of ''Leonotis ocymifolia var. ocymifolia''.<ref name="iwarsson2003"/>
Leonotis leonurus and Leonotis nepetifolia seem to be mildly psychoactive, similar to cannabis albeit producing a far less potent and less intense "high".
==Species== # ''Leonotis decadonta'' <small> Gürke </small> - southeast Africa from Burundi + Tanzania south to Mozambique # ''Leonotis goetzei'' <small> Gürke </small> - Tanzania # ''Leonotis grandis'' <small> Iwarsson & Y.B. Harvey </small> - Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia # ''Leonotis leonurus'' <small> (L.) Robert Brown </small> - South Africa, Angola; naturalized in Burundi, Java, St. Helena # ''Leonotis myricifolia'' <small> Iwarsson & Y.B. Harvey </small> - Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia # ''Leonotis myrothamnifolia'' <small> Iwarsson & Y.B. Harvey </small> - Malawi, Zambia # ''Leonotis nepetifolia'' <small> (L.) Robert Brown </small> - 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'' <small>(Burman f.) Iwarsson </small> - eastern Africa from Sudan + Eritrea south to Transvaal # ''Leonotis pole-evansii'' <small>Hutch.</small> - Zambia
==Taxonomy== ''Leonotis'' is a member of the subfamily Lamioideae.<ref name="harley2004"/> ''Leonotis'' might be paraphyletic or even polyphyletic because ''Leonotis leonurus'' is not closely related to the other species.<ref name="scheen2009">Anne-Cathrine Scheen and Victor A. Albert. 2009. "Molecular Phylogenetics of the ''Leucas'' Group (Lamioideae; Lamiaceae)". ''Systematic Botany'' '''34'''(1):173-181.</ref> In 2009, it was shown that ''Leonotis'' and 3 other genera are embedded in ''Leucas'',<ref name="scheen2009"/> a genus of about 100 species.<ref name="harley2004"/> If the 4 embedded genera were merged with ''Leucas'', the expanded ''Leucas'' would have about 132 species.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Leonotis}} {{Wikispecies|Leonotis}} * [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#372 Leonotis (page 504)] In: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#10 Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen] At: [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/3678 bibliography/3678] At:[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org Biodiversity Heritage Library] * [http://botany.si.edu/ing/INGsearch.cfm?searchword=Leonotis Leonotis] At:[http://www.botany.si.edu/ing Index Nominum Genericorum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014160237/http://botany.si.edu/ing/ |date=2010-10-14 }} At: [http://www.botany.si.edu/index.htm?references References] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927172741/http://botany.si.edu/index.htm?references |date=2010-09-27 }} At: [http://www.botany.si.edu/index.htm NMNH Department of Botany] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001045837/http://botany.si.edu/index.htm |date=2010-10-01 }} * [https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=LEONO&display=63 Classification for Kingdom Plantae Down to Genus Leonotis], United States Department of Agriculture * [https://web.archive.org/web/20071114065548/http://loewenohr.org/ German Lion's-Tail Forum] * [http://www.ipni.org/ipni/simplePlantNameSearch.do?find_wholeName=Leonotis IPNI Listing]
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Category:Lamiaceae Category:Lamiaceae genera