Leonotis leonurus

Taxobox
name = "Leonotis leonurus"


image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Leonotis leonurus"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Lamiales
familia = Lamiaceae
genus = "Leonotis"
species = "L. leonurus"
binomial = "Leonotis leonurus"
binomial_authority = (L.) R.Br.

"Leonotis leonurus", also known as Wild Dagga, Lion's Tail or Lion's Ear, is a species of plant in the Leonotis genus and the Lamiaceae (mint) family native to southern Africa.

Related Species

There are about thirty species of plants from the family Lamiaceae in the genus Leonotis, but only one other, "L. nepetifolia" ("Klip Dagga"), shares the entheogenic properties of "L. leonurus". The main difference between the species is that "L. nepetifolia"'s flowers sprout from a round prickly ball.

Uses

Recreational Uses

Wild Dagga is smoked or made into a medicinal tea by the Khoikhoi (Hottentots) a tribe of South Africa. Wild Dagga is good for inducing a deep meditative sleep, calming, relaxing and enhancing dreaming. Because of its euphoric effects, Wild Dagga is often referred to as a Cannabis substitute.

Leonotis leonurus (Wild Dagga, Lion's Tail) species is also used in Eastern medicine as euphoriant, purgative, and vermifuge.

Wild Dagga also has a pleasant smell that can be used for incense.

Medicinal Uses

Newstar-Chem pharmaceutical company asserts possible applications:(poorly translated via their website.)"treated the menstruation which was irregular, the uterine hemorrhage and the dysmenorrhea etc;The animal experimentation also indicated that the product could the increase the peripheral vascular ,the coronary artery and the cardiac muscle nutrition,increased the hematic flux,improved the micro circulation,and had the antithrombus to form" (sic) [http://www.newstar-chem.com/english/display.asp?id=208] .

In most common uses the leaves are picked, dried, and then brewed as a tea.

Chemical Constituents

Images

External links

* [http://www.erowid.org/plants/leonotis_leonurus/leonotis_leonurus.shtml Erowid's Wild Dagga Vault]
* [http://www.sahealthinfo.org/traditionalmeds/monographs/leonotisherba.htm Leonotis Leonurus Monograph]
* http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LELE3
* http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?21744
* http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/6880