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Lion's Ear

Leonotis nepetifolia

Photo by Dan Doucette
Published on Project Noah
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10.5674, 122.583

Field Notes

Description:

up to 3m (10') tall, orange flowers.

Habitat:

tropics, native to south India

Notes:

I spotted this while exploring the island of Guimaras. It appears to be growing outside of it's natural range, but I still thought it was a cool plant. It still looks interesting even with hardly any blooms on it.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (8)

Yes, it looks similar, Dan. Possibly more rainfall there and nutrients in the soil, though we do get a lot of Nitrogen from the Thunder and Lightning storms.
I get it now, Lion's ear - Cat's ear! Hahahah! I missed it the first time. I looked at yours. It appears to be the same plant.
Dan, I have a sense of humor remember? The Madagascar version is smaller and is probably the same genus, but a different species. It's in my Project Noah and I tried to copy and or cut and paste on my Mac with little success.
Thanks for the additional info Susan and Joseph. Haven't heard of Cat's ear. Can you get a photo of it Joseph?
They have Cannabis here, too. Hadn't heard of the effects of smoking this plant. Around here we get a lot of smoke from burning trash and fields. Respiratory health is compromised for sure.
I think in Africa they use this for a high. from wiki: The dried leaves and flowers have a mild calming effect when smoked. In some users, the effects have been noted to be similar to the cannabinoid THC found in Cannabis, except that it is has a much less potent high.
This looks like a larger version of a plant we have here in Madagascar. Maybe ours is called cat's ear?

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