Species
+

Leonotis leonurus (L.) R.Br.

Cape Hemp, Common Lion's Ear, Common Lionspaw, Leonotis

Climate known 57 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Leonotis leonurus, also known as wild dagga and lion's ear, is a plant species in the mint family Lamiaceae. It is a broadleaf evergreen shrub, native to South Africa, where it is very common, with a wide altitudinal range from 5 m up to 1980 m. It is known to have medicinal and sedating properties. The main psychoactive component of Leonotis leonurus is hypothesized to be either leonurine or a mixture of labdane-type compounds; Leonotis leonurus has been confirmed to contain leonurine according to peer reviewed journal published phytochemical analysis. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Leonotis leonurus”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Leonotis

Leonotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. One species, Leonotis nepetifolia, is native to tropical Africa and southern India. It is naturalized throughout most of the tropics. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Leonotis”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Lamiaceae
Described by
(L.) R.Br.
Native to
Cape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State +1
Wild records
1315 in range· 257 open

At a glance

Warmest month
25°C
Feb, mean day; nights 17 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
687mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Nov 81 mm (CHELSA)
Light
18–46DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (March to October in the northern hemisphere). Habitat rain 687 mm a year, wettest November at 81 mm, driest June at 34 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 46 mol/m²/day. Cold floor 4.8 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Hemisodon leonurus (L.) Raf.; Leonotis africanus Mill.; Leonotis leonurus (L.) W.T.Aiton, 1811; Leonotis leonurus var. albiflora Benth.; Leonurus africanus Mill. and 5 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (March to October in the northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads no season: 70% of the year's rain (528 mm of 687 mm) takes 8 months, September to April. Mean temperature moves 8.2 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere; shifted six months for a northern-hemisphere collection: March to October.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 687 mm a year, wettest November at 81 mm, driest June at 34 mm (habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

687 mm a year at the habitat, 528 mm of it September to April. Wettest month November at 81 mm, driest June at 34 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 516 mm to 1133 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, southern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 46 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 18 to 46 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 16, the highest 90th-percentile month 53).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor 4.8 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is 4.8 °C, the absolute minimum 2.0 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 35.5 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 7.8 °C in July (across the envelope cells 2.4 °C to 12.6 °C), warmest day 25.1 °C in February (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: 4.8 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 55 to 63% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 17 °C in Jul to 25 °C in Feb; mean night from 8 °C in Jul to 17 °C in Feb. The cold quarter, Jun to Aug, is the three months around the coldest night. 687 mm of rain a year, most in Nov. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 524 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was 2.0 °C and the 99th-percentile day 35.5 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.10°20°30°40°35.5° 99th-percentile day (undated)2.0° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 18–46RH 55–63 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 524 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C25 / 22–2825 / 22–2824 / 21–2722 / 19–2420 / 17–2317 / 15–2117 / 15–2118 / 15–2220 / 16–2321 / 18–2322 / 19–2524 / 21–27
Night °C17 / 14–1917 / 14–2016 / 12–1914 / 10–1711 / 6–158 / 3–138 / 2–139 / 5–1310 / 7–1412 / 9–1514 / 11–1716 / 12–18
Rain mm63 / 23–15757 / 20–13469 / 27–11658 / 40–8239 / 17–11334 / 14–14537 / 12–15849 / 25–12652 / 30–9078 / 38–11181 / 30–12970 / 24–144
DLI45 / 36–5340 / 34–4734 / 30–3826 / 25–3020 / 19–2518 / 16–2319 / 17–2424 / 22–2931 / 29–3437 / 32–4243 / 34–4946 / 36–53
RH %63 / 56–6663 / 57–6763 / 57–6661 / 56–6458 / 53–6255 / 51–6055 / 50–6057 / 52–6160 / 54–6261 / 56–6462 / 56–6562 / 56–66

Each figure is the median across the 524 grid cells holding the 1302 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 2467:4129 (-33.375, 26.475). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 2.0 °C, 1st-percentile night 4.8 °C, 99th-percentile day 35.5 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 524 distinct grid cells holding the 1302 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 2467:4129 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -33.50_26.250, lapse-corrected +148 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 435 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeCape Provinces, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Northern Provinces· introduced: Burundi, St.Helena, Jawa, Tasmania
Kew's description“shrub” · “subtropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker-34.067, 18.516 · in the densest population, 615 records (47% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1315 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 257 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 27 km away. 165 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 13 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1315 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Leonotis leonurusLeonotis leonurusLeonotis leonurusLeonotis leonurusLeonotis leonurusLeonotis leonurusLeonotis leonurusLeonotis leonurus

Photographs: (c) Tony Rebelo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) (2); (c) Guy Taseski, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) linkie, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); no rights reserved · CC0.

Photographs: iNaturalist did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Leonotis leonurus, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

How globalization and market innovation challenge how we think about and respond to drug use: ‘Spice’ a case study
Paul Griffiths, Roumen Sedefov, Ana Gallegos, Dominique Lopez (2010) · Addiction
Antidiabetic activities of aqueous leaves extract of Leonotis leonurus in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats
Sunday O. Oyedemi, Musa Toyin Yakubu, Anthony Jide Afolayan (2011) · Journal of Medicinal Plants Research
Peltate Glandular Trichomes of Leonotis leonurus Leaves: Ultrastructure and Histochemical Characterization of Secretions
Lia Ascensão, Natália Marques, M. S. Pais (1997) · International Journal of Plant Sciences
Anticonvulsant activity of aqueous extract of Leonotis leonurus
E Bienvenu, G.J. Amabeoku, P.K.F. Eagles, Gillian Scott (2002) · Phytomedicine
In-vitro anthelminthic activity of crude aqueous extracts of Aloe ferox, Leonotis leonurus and Elephantorrhiza elephantina against Haemonchus contortus
V. Maphosa, P.J. Masika, E.S. Bizimenyera, J.N. Eloff (2009) · Tropical Animal Health and Production
Herbal medicine for epilepsy seizures in Asia, Africa and Latin America: A systematic review
Emilie Auditeau, François Chassagne, Geneviève Bourdy, Mayoura Bounlu (2019) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology
The effectiveness of active and passive restoration on recovery of indigenous vegetation in riparian zones in the Western Cape, South Africa: A preliminary assessment
Sheunesu Ruwanza, Mirijam Gaertner, Karen J. Esler, David M. Richardson (2013) · South African Journal of Botany
In vitro evidence of antimicrobial synergy between Salvia chamelaeagnea and Leonotis leonurus
Guy Kamatou, Alvaro Viljoen, Sandy van Vuuren, Robyn L. van Zyl (2006) · South African Journal of Botany
Antithrombotic/anticoagulant and anticancer activities of selected medicinal plants from South Africa
Nalise Low, Ah Kee, Nandipha Mnonopi, Hajierah Davids (2008) · AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Uncovering a miltiradiene biosynthetic gene cluster in the Lamiaceae reveals a dynamic evolutionary trajectory
Abigail E. Bryson, Emily R. Lanier, Kin H. Lau, John P. Hamilton (2023) · Nature Communications

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Leonotis 1 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not asked
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-19; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 52 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.