Leonotis nepetifolia (L.) R.Br., Lamiaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results: 

Reject, score: 13 (Go to the risk assessment (Australia))
High risk, score: 19 (Go to the risk assessment (Pacific))
Reject, score: 14 (Go to the risk assessment (U.S. (Florida)))

Other Latin names:  Phlomis nepetaefolia L.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bald head, bird honey, Christmas candlestick, Johnny Collins, lion's ear, lion's tail

French: gros bouton, gros tête, pompon soldat

Spanish: rubim de bolas

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Coarse annual herbs; stems 10-25 dm long, deeply furrowed and puberulent.  Leaves membranous, oblong-ovate to ovate, 4.5-8.5 (-12) cm long, 2-5 (-9.5) cm wide, lower ones up to ca. 20 cm long and ca. 15 cm wide, both surfaces puberulent, margins coarsely crenate-serrate, apex acute to acuminate, base rounded to truncate, petioles 2-7.5 cm long, those of lower leaves up to ca. 10 cm long.  Flowers in dense globose verticillasters, 2-8 per stem, bracts linear-lanceolate, apex spinose; calyx 1.2-1.5 cm long, enlarging to 1.5-2.3 cm long in fruit, slightly curved during anthesis, 8-9-toothed, the teeth unequal, spinose, puberulent toward base, becoming hirsute above; corolla orange, 2-2.8 cm long, upper lip arched, 1-1.2 cm log, densely pubescent with orange hairs externally.  Nutlets dull black, oblong-obovoid, 2.5-4 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 803).

Habitat/ecology:  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 form large colonies that displace native plants. (Csurhes & Edwards, 1998; pp. 172-173).  "Has the ability 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" (Smith, 2002; p. 62). 

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in low elevation, dry to occasionally wet, disturbed habitats, 15 to ca. 300 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 803).

Propagation:  "Seeds are dispersed by water and in mud on vehicles and animals. Intentionally spread as an ornamental." (Smith, 2002; p. 62).

Native range:  Tropical Africa, widely naturalized.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Adventice
French Polynesia Austral (Tubuai) Islands	Rurutu Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Adventice
French Polynesia Austral (Tubuai) Islands	Tubuai Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Adventice
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 803)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 803)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank (2010) (p. 36) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer & Perlman H50808 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 803)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Oppenheimer, Hank L. (2003) (p. 14) Voucher cited: Oppenheimer H70118 (BISH, PTBG)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 803)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 68) Franc 1338 (BM), Botton in Schmidt 5346 (NOU), MacKee 31827 Spontané
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2001) (p. Field notes.)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Nicholas M. (2002) (p. 62)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Nicholas M. (2002) (p. 62)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 211)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 211)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 188)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 54) Naturalised

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Agalega Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. (1983) (p. 125)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Coetivy Island		Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. (1983) (p. 150) Voucher cited: Roberston 3130 (K)

Comments:  "A declared noxious weed in the Northern territory. A serious weed of rice and sugarcane in South America." (Smith, 2002; p. 62).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Leonotis nepetifolia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Leonotis nepetifolia as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Leonotis nepetifolia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Cardenas, Juan/Reys, Carlos E./Doll, Jerry D./Pardo, Fernando. 1972. Tropical weeds; malezas tropicales, vol. 1. International Plant Protection Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis. 341 pp.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

Csurhes, S./Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Stoddart, D. R. 1983. List of the recorded vascular flora of Agalega. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Oppenheimer, Hank. 2010. New Hawaiian plant records from Maui County for 2008. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2008. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 107:33-40.

Oppenheimer, Hank L. 2003. New plant records from Maui and Hawai‘i Counties. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 73:3-30.

Parsons, W. T./Cuthbertson, E. G. 1992. Noxious weeds of Australia. Inkata Press, Melbourne/Sydney. 692 pp.

Robertson, S. A./Fosberg, F. R. 1983. List of plants collected on Coetivy Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

Smith, Nicholas M. 2002. Weeds of the wet/dry tropics of Australia - a field guide. Environment Centre NT, Inc. 112 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2001. Report to the Kingdom of Tonga on invasive plant species of environmental concern.  USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 78 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).