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Leonotis nepetifolia
Lamiaceae FAMILY

Leonotis nepetifolia

Leonotis nepetifolia

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual/Perennial
Growth—

A pantropical weed[1]. The plant forms dense thickets and is most abundant on heavily disturbed areas such as roadsides, overgrazed pastures and river levee banks. It has the potential to develop into large colonies that displace native species, particularly along riverbanks and flood plains where the spiky nature of the seed heads reduces accessibility[2]. The seeds are dispersed by water and in mud on vehicles and animals. The plant is intentionally spread as an ornamental[2].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Leonotis+nepetifolia>

Pollinators

Sunbirds, Bees

References

  1. [1]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  2. [2]Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk — http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html ↩︎A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands.
  3. [3]Flora of Southern Africa — Roux J.P. · 2003 · http://plants.jstor.org/search?st=662545 ↩︎An excellent on-line resource.
  4. [4]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  5. [5]Edible Wild Plants of Tanzania — Ruffo, C.K.: Birnie, A. & Tengnas, B. · Regional Land Management Unit; Nairobi. · 2002 · ISBN 9966-896-60-0 ↩︎A very well presented, simple guide to growing and utilizing wild food plants in Tanzania, with line drawings of each plant, a description, habitat and range, non-food as well as food uses, plus basic information on growing the plants.
  6. [6]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region