- Family:
- Lamiaceae Martinov
Orthosiphon Benth.

[LKGF]
Harley, R.M. et al. (2004). Labiatae, in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants (K. Kubitzki, ed. in chief) VI: 167-275. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.
- Morphology General Habit
- Shrubs or herbs, often geoxylic, sometimes annual, aromatic or not
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves simple, opposite, rarely ternate or quadrate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescence thyrsoid with cymes sessile, usually 3-, more rarely 1-flowered
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts
- Bracts persistent, not coloured, often inconspicuous
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx shortly tubular, straight or curving upwards, strongly 2-lipped, 5-lobed (1/4), lobes unequal, posterior rounded, decurrent, curving upwards, lateral teeth deltoid, usually with a prominent shoulder, anterior lobes subulate, throat open, glabrous
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla strongly 2-lipped, 5-lobed (4/1), white, pink or bluish, rarely red, posterior lip ascending, 4-lobed with median lobes exceeding lateral lobes, anterior lip horizontal, concave, corolla-tube straight or slightly curved, parallel-sided, dilating t
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens 4 usually held over lower lip, rarely much exserted, posterior pair usually attached above midpoint of corolla-tube, very rarely at base, usually glabrous, inappendiculate, anterior pair attached at corolla throat
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
- Style usually capitate-clavate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Stigma
- Stigma-lobes equal, rounded, rarely parallel-sided, connivent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
- Disc 4-lobed with anterior lobe larger
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Nutlets ± ovoid, glabrous, mucilaginous or not.
- Note
- 2n = 22-28, 48. Around forty species
- Distribution
- In tropical and southern Africa, Madagascar and tropical or subtropical Asia
- Ecology
- In grassland, woodland, or forest margins.
[KBu]
Suddee, S., A. J. Paton, & Parnell, J. (2005). Taxonomic Revision of Tribe Ocimeae Dumort. (Lamiaceae) in Continental South East Asia III. Ociminae. Kew Bulletin, 60(1), 3-75. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4110885
- Morphology General Habit
- Erect herbs or undershrubs
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves with lower pairs petiolate, upper pairs sometimes sessile or subsessile, opposite, sometimes leaves forming a rosette near stem base, membranous to chartaceous, serrate, crenate or entire
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens 4, didynamous, declinate, included or long exserted, inappendiculate, glabrous; posterior pair attached at throat slightly below anterior; anterior pair attached at the base of anterior corolla lip, longer than posterior; filaments free; anthers reniform, synthecous, often confluent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx campanulate in flower, tubular- campanulate in fruit, bilabiate, reflexed against the inflorescence axis in fruit; posterior lip membranous, broadest, margins reflexed, strongly decurrent on tube; anterior lip 4-toothed with teeth acuminate- subulate, two median teeth longer than lateral, subequal or longer than posterior; tube sometimes constricted above ovary, with 10 longitudinal veins, without anterior spur at base; throat mostly glabrous, rarely pubescent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla long exserted from calyx tube; posterior lip 3 - 4-lobed, equal or the median lobe larger; anterior lip entire, concave, equal to posterior or longer; lobes pubescent at back; tube long exserted, straight or incurved, pubescent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
- Disc 4-lobed with anterior side well developed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary glabrous
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
- Style declinate, capitate or clavate at apex, usually slightly cleft, often with minute glands around style base
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Nutlets ovoid, ellipsoid, oblong or globose, smooth, minutely tuberculate or minutely reticulate, sometimes producing mucilage when wet.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescence terminal, simple, rarely branched; verticils clearly interrupted; cymes sessile, unbranched, 1 - 3-flowered, often 3- flowered; bracts caducous or persistent, often forming an apical coma; pedicels bent downward in fruit
- Morphology Stem
- Stems sometimes with a woody rootstock, quadrangular or round- quadrangular, usually branched
- Note
- Index Nominum Genericorum (Farr et al. 1979), Flora of Southern Africa (Codd 1985), NCU-3 (Greuter et al. 1993) regarded Orthosiphon as 'type not designated'. Flore de Madagascar et des Comores (Hedge et al. 1998) cited Orthosiphon rubicundus (D. Don) Benth as the type species and Conspectus Lamiacearum Florae Vietnami (Phuong 1982), Flora of Vietnam 2 (Phuong 2000) cited it as the lectotype species. The original publication of the genus mentions only one species, 'Ocimum triste Roth' which Bentham definitely indicated belonged to the genus, and so this must be the type species for the genus. Ocimum triste Roth has never been combined in Orthosiphon, but it is a synonym of Orthosiphon thymiflorus (Roth) Sleesen (Ocimum thymiflorum Roth)
- Type
- Type species: Ocimum triste Roth [= Orthosiphon thymiflorus (Roth) Sleesen (Ocimum thymiflorum Roth ) ].
[FTEA]
Lamiaceae (Labiatae), A.J. Paton, G. Bramley, O. Ryding, R.M. Polhill, Y.B. Harvey, M. Iwarsson, F. Willis, P.B. Phillipson, K. Balkwill, C.W. Lukhoba, D.F. Otieno, & R.M. Harley. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2009
- Morphology General Habit
- Annual or perennial herbs, suffrutices or shrubs
- Morphology Stem
- Stems erect, often woody at base
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves opposite
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers hermaphrodite, arranged in 2–6-flowered verticils disposed in a lax inflorescence; bracts small, sometimes forming an inconspicuous apical coma
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx persistent, horizontal or downward-pointing, shortly tubular, bilabiate; posterior lip large, ovate, entire, apex sometimes cuspidate, shortly decurrent on tube; anterior lip 4-lobed, lateral lobes deltate, cuspidate, median lobes lanceolate, long acuminate; fruiting calyx with throat open, glabrous, posterior lip accrescent, lateral lobes of anterior lip often with the posterior margin extended towards or under the posterior lip and with a small lanceolate or subulate tooth, median lobes acicular or subulate, curving upwards, longer than lateral lobes
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla bilabiate, white, pink or bluish; tube funnel-shaped or straight and ± parallel-sided, dilating slightly towards throat, exceeding the calyx or subequal to it; posterior lip perpendicular to tube, 4-lobed, with the median narrower than and exceeding the lateral; anterior lip entire, horizontal and cucullate, enclosing the stamens or deflexed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens 4, declinate, shortly exserted or enclosed within the anterior lip; posterior pair inappendiculate, basally ciliate or glabrous, adnate to the corolla above the midpoint of the tube; anterior pair glabrous, adnating nearer throat, anthers dorsifixed, synthecous
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Disc
- Disk 4-lobed, with anterior lobe larger
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary glabrous, deeply 4-lobed; style gynobasic, capitate, branches rounded, equal, adpressed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Nutlets brown, ovoid with a small basal scar, minutely tuberculed, producing a small amount of mucilage when wet; embryo straight, exalbuminous.
- Note
- Ashby, loc. cit. (1938) divided the genus into three sections, sect. Serrati M.Ashby, Orthosiphon ( Euorthosiphon M.Ashby) and Pallidi M.Ashby. Codd, loc. cit. (1964), expanded sect. Serrati to include Nautochilus Bremek. and treated it as a subgenus, Orthosiphon subgen. Nautochilus (Bremek.) Codd. Subgen. Nautochilus in a more restricted sense, i.e. those species with stamens hairy at the base, exserted and attaching to the corolla in its basal half, and also with a bifid style, has now been transferred to Ocimum, see generic notes under Ocimum. Ashby described sect. Pallidi for species with a supposedly funnel-shaped corolla and the anterior corolla lip being longer than the posterior. O. hanningtonii, which has a funnelshaped corolla and equal corolla lips, is intermediate between sect. Pallidi and sect. Orthosiphon. The difference between a funnel-shaped tube and the parallel-sided tube that dilates at the throat, found in the remainder of Orthosiphon¸ is very slight. The corolla of O. pallidus seems to be very similar in shape to other members of Orthosiphon, but the tube is shorter making it appear funnel-shaped. Only O. hanningtonii has a properly funnel-shaped corolla tube, in that the extended sides of the exserted part of the tube are not parallel. Therefore, in Orthosiphon there seems to be a continuous variation in the tube shape between parallel-sided and dilating at the throat on one hand, and funnel-shaped on the other. Due to this unconvincing character difference and the intermediate position of O. hanningtonii, sect. Pallidi is not recognised here.
[FSOM]
M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS
- Morphology General Habit
- Subshrubs or herbs
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescences thyrse-like, lax or rather lax, with recurved flowers; bracts distinctly smaller than the leaves; cymes (1–)3-flowered, without peduncle or almost so; bracteoles absent
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Calyx 5-lobed; upper lobe large, concave, decurrent along the distal third of the tube; lateral lobes broad at the base, subulate at the apex; lower lobes subulate and longer than the lateral lobes (in Somali species)
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Corolla strongly 2-lipped; tube straight, narrowly to broadly cylindrical; upper lip 3–4-lobed, almost flat; lower lip shallowly boat-shaped
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens inserted in the distal part of the corolla-tube, directed to or included in the lower lip of the corolla; anthers 1-celled
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Style
- Style club-shaped; branches minute
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Nutlets ovoid to subglobose, minutely bullate, glabrous.
- Distribution
- Genus with over 40 species, many in tropical and southern Africa, some in tropical and subtropical Asia.
Native to:
Angola, Assam, Bangladesh, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, China South-Central, China Southeast, Colombia, Congo, Djibouti, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Hainan, India, Ivory Coast, Jawa, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Madagascar, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Maluku, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Queensland, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Socotra, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Introduced into:
Caroline Is., Fiji, Niue
- Orthosiphon adenocaulis A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon allenii (C.H.Wright) Codd
- Orthosiphon americanus Harley & A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon argenteus A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon aristatus (Blume) Miq.
- Orthosiphon biflorus A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon bullosus Chiov.
- Orthosiphon cinereus A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon cladotrichos Gürke
- Orthosiphon cuanzae (I.M.Johnst.) A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon discolor A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon ellipticus A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon exilis A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon ferrugineus Balf.f.
- Orthosiphon fruticosus Codd
- Orthosiphon glandulosus C.E.C.Fisch.
- Orthosiphon grandiflorus A.Terracc.
- Orthosiphon hanningtonii (Baker) A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon humbertii Danguy
- Orthosiphon incurvus Benth.
- Orthosiphon lanatus Doan ex Suddee & A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon miserabilis A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon newtonii Briq.
- Orthosiphon nigripunctatus G.Taylor
- Orthosiphon pallidus Royle ex Benth.
- Orthosiphon parishii Prain
- Orthosiphon parvifolius Vatke
- Orthosiphon pseudoaristatus Suddee
- Orthosiphon robustus Hook.f.
- Orthosiphon rotundifolius Doan ex Suddee & A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon ruber A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon rubicundus (D.Don) Benth.
- Orthosiphon rufinervis G.Taylor
- Orthosiphon sarmentosus A.J.Paton & Hedge
- Orthosiphon scapiger Benth.
- Orthosiphon scedastophyllus A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon schimperi Benth.
- Orthosiphon schliebenii A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon thymiflorus (Roth) Sleesen
- Orthosiphon truncatus Doan ex Suddee & A.J.Paton
- Orthosiphon vernalis Codd
- Orthosiphon violaceus Briq.
- Orthosiphon wattii Prain
- Orthosiphon wulfenioides (Diels) Hand.-Mazz.
Orthosiphon Benth. appears in other Kew resources:
Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cruse, A.W. [88A], Zimbabwe | 21926.000 | No | |||
Coode, M. [NGF29713], Papua New Guinea | K000888376 | No |
First published in Edwards's Bot. Reg. 15: t. 1300 (1830)
Accepted by
- Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Literature
Flora of West Tropical Africa
- —F.T.A. 5: 365.
Flora of Somalia
- Ashby in J. Bot. Lond. 76: 1–48 (1938).
- Flora Somalia, (2000) Author: by O. Ryding [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Bothalia 8: 147–162 (1964), excl. subgen. Nautochilus sensu stricto
- Edward’s Bot. Reg., t. 1300 (1830)
- J.B. 76: 1–10, 39–48 (1938), excl. sect. Serrati
- Kubitzki, Fam. Gen. Vasc. Pl. 7: 261 (2004)
Lamiaceae Key Genus Fact Sheets
- Clerodendranthus Kudô, Mem. Fac. Sci. Taihoku Imp. Univ. 2: 117 (1929).
- Codd, Bothalia 12: 21-27 (1976), rev.
- Harley RM, Atkins S, Budantsev AL, Cantino PD, Conn BJ, Grayer R, Harley MM, de Kok RPJ, Krestovskaja T, Morales R, Paton AJ, Ryding O, and Upson T. 2004. Labiatae, in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants (K. Kubitzki, ed. in chief) VI: 167-275. Sp
- Paton, Kew Bull. 53: 483-485 (1998).
- Syncolostemon E. Mey. ex Benth. in E.Mey, Comm. Pl. Afr. Austr.: 230 (1837)
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Flora of Somalia
Flora of Somalia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
-
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Kew Bulletin
Kew Bulletin
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
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Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Lamiaceae Key Genus Fact Sheets
Nina Davies, Gemma Bramley and Don Kirkup, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
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