Leonotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae.[2] One species, Leonotis nepetifolia, is native to tropical Africa and southern India. It is naturalized throughout most of the tropics. The other species are endemic to southern + eastern Africa.[1][3]
Leonotis was named by Robert Brown in 1810 in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.[4] The name means "lion's ear".
The type for the genus is the specimen of Leonotis ocymifolia that was originally described as Leonotis leonitis.[5] It is a specimen of Leonotis ocymifolia var. ocymifolia.[3]
Leonotis is a member of the subfamily Lamioideae.[2] Leonotis might be paraphyletic or even polyphyletic because Leonotis leonurus is not closely related to the other species.[6] In 2009, it was shown that Leonotis and 3 other genera are embedded in Leucas,[6] a genus of about 100 species.[2] If the 4 embedded genera were merged with Leucas, the expanded Leucas would have about 132 species.