Lion ear

Dagga (Leonotis), also called lion's tail, is a genus of the mint family (Lamiaceae). The botanical genus name is leon from the Greek words, Leontos for lion and derived otos for ear and refers to the shape of the corolla.

Occurrence

All species are native to tropical southern Africa. One exception is the kind of Leonotis nepetifolia, which is also found in South India and America, in Australia this species is considered invasive plant.

Botany

Leonotis species grow up as a one-year evergreen perennial herbaceous plants or shrubs, reaching the height of usually 0.6 to 2, rarely to 5 meters. They contain essential oils and scented by fragrant.

Most plant parts are hairy. Young stems are usually square. The antithetic leaves are evergreen. The simple leaf blades are flat and oval to lanceolate. The margin may be smooth, notched or cut. Stipules absent.

The Gesamtblütenstand consists of several (three to eleven), axillary, arranged away from each other on the stem, dense-flowered, almost spherical Blütenquirlen together. The bracts are laubblattförmig and the bracts are oblong, often with a spiky head.

The stalked, eye-catching, hermaphroditic flowers are zygomorph and five parts. The five sepals are fused and the Goblet of Roehrig tube ends in eight to ten cup teeth, often prickly with a tip. The five bright orange to white petals are fused into a corolla tube curved, ending double lip. The upper lip is covered with dense hair.

The lower lip has three lobes. It's a circle with four fertile stamens present, the lower pair is much longer. Two carpels are fused to a oberständigen ovary that is often divided by a "false septum in four chambers. The style ends in a small, bilobed stigma.There are rarely two, usually four Klaus formed fruit.



Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B6wenohren

See Also: International Flower Delivery, Florist