Leucas lavandulifolia Sm., Lamiaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: xian ye bai rong cao

French: armoise blanche

Hindi: guma

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Erect, fetid, annual herb to 1 m high, the branchlets pubescent with spreading to retrorse hairs and often subglaucous; leaf blades usually subsessile, linear-lanceolate or rarely lanceolate, 4-9 x about 0.5 (-2.5) cm, attenuate at base, acuminate to acute at apex, remotely and sparingly serrate to subentire at margin; flowers short-pedicellate, 3-30 in terminal and axillary, always leafy-bracted verticils, these often congested toward tips of branchlets, the bracteoles linear, to 10 mm long, puberulent; calyx turbinate to cupular, 6-8 mm long, in fruit to 9 mm long, glabrescent to puberulent without, the mouth conspicuously oblique, the teeth 7-10, the uppermost one large and broad, the others minute and spinescent; corolla white or tinged with pale blue, about 10 mm long, the tube annulate within near middle, the upper lip oblong, copiously pilose, the lower lip patent, the middle lobe large, obovate; anthers red-brown; nutlets oblong, about 2.5 x 1 mm, rounded at apex, the inner surface angular, the outer surface rounded, dark brown or paler toward base"  (Smith, 1991; pp. 238-239).

Habitat/ecology:  In Fiji, "occurs near sea level as an occasional weed of cultivated areas, in dryland ricefields, and along roadsides"  (Smith, 1991; pp. 238-239).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Continental Asia (India to China) and southeastward throughout Malesia; a widespread weed elsewhere, into the Mascarenes and southern Africa" (Smith, 1991; pp. 238-239).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 238-239) Vouchers cited: DA 9636, Greenwood 916, DA 17325, DA 16026, DA 3989, DA 11738, DA 10588, DA 2929
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 69) Vouchers cited: Brousmiche s.n. s.loc., Le Rat 696 s.loc., MacKee 11490, MacKee 27977, MacKee 34642, Toutain 4282 (NOU)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 241)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. (1975) (p. 83) Voucher cited: Salsedo 164 (US)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie (2009) (p. 5) Voucher: Lorence 9929 (PTBG, BNM, NY, US)
Palau Palau (main island group)	Babeldaob Island		National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.) (2008) (voucher ID: PTBG 222) Taxon name on voucher: Leucas lavandulifolia Sm.
Palau Palau (main island group)	Palau Islands (main island group)	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 238-239)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced invasive	Merrill, Elmer D. (1923) (p. 411) A common weed in open waste places at low and medium altitudes; certainly introduced.
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 238-239)
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands	Solomon Islands	native	Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. (1988) (p. 85)

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)	Queensland	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 238-239)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 238-239)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 236) In thickets and on margin of forests.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	uncertain if introduced invasive	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 54) Weed of uncertain origin
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mascarene Islands Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, La Reunion, Rodrigues)	Mascarene Islands	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 238-239)
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Frégate Island		Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. (1983) (p. 53) Vouchers cited: Procter 4154, Robertson 2644

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

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

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

References:

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.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, M.-H. 1975. Noteworthy Micronesian plants 2. Micronesica 11(1):81-84.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

Hancock, I. R./Henderson, C. P. 1988. Flora of the Solomon Islands. Research Bulletin No. 7. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Honiara. 203 pp.

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

Merrill, Elmer D. 1923. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 3 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 628 pp.

National Tropical Botanical Garden (U.S.A. Hawaii. Kalaheo.). 2008. Voucher specimen #PTBG222(David H. Lorence 9929).

Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. 1983. Vegetation of Frégate 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, Albert C. 1991. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 5. 626 pp.

Space, James C./Lorence, David H./LaRosa, Anne Marie. 2009. Report to the Republic of Palau: 2008 update on Invasive Plant Species. USDA Forest Service, Hilo, Hawai‘i. 227 pp.

Swarbrick, John T. 1997. Weeds of the Pacific Islands. Technical paper no. 209. South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 124 pp.

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

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).