Leucas chinensis




Family Lamiaceae (alt. Labiatae)
Subfamily Lamioideae
Scientific name Leucas chinensis (Retzius) R. Brown
Synonyms Leucas mollissima Wallich ex Bentham subsp. chinensis (Bentham) Murata; Leucas mollissima Wallich ex Bentham var. chinensis Bentham; Phlomis chinensis Retzius
Common name (Japanese common name) yanbaru tsuru-hakka (ヤンバルツルハッカ, 山原蔓薄荷 [meaning: Yanbaru vine mint (Yanbaru = northern area of Okinawa)])
(English common name) none
Distribution (Japan) Kyushu (south of Tokara Islands), Okinawa
(Other nations) China, Taiwan
Habitat Seaside rocks
Chromosomal number 2n=28
Description Plants electing or creeping ca. 20-60cm tall. Flowers white corollas ca. 1cm, flowering in all seasons. Perennial plants.
Reference Leucas chinensis (Retzius) R. Brown
Leucas mollissima Wallich
Pharmaceutical preparations of bioactive substances extracted from natural sources (US Patent 6746695/2004)
Note Leucas chinensis (Retzius) R. Brown has been sometimes confused with or misidentified as Clinopodium chinense (Bentham) O. Kuntze subsp. chinense (syn. Calamintha chinensis Bentham; Calamintha clinopodium Bentham var. chinensis (Bentham) Miquel; Satureja chinensis (Bentham) Briquet). Japanese common name of Clinopodium chinense (Bentham) O. Kuntze subsp. chinense is Okinawa kuruma-bana and its flower color is pale purple.



July 2008
at Ishigaki Island
July 2008
at Ishigaki Island
July 2008
at Ishigaki Island