''Leucas zeylanica'', commonly known as Ceylon slitwort, is a small, terrestrial, herbaceous, annual, erect or sometimes tufted, hispid and aromatic plant of the subfamily

Lamioideae Lamioideae is a subfamily of plants in the family Lamiaceae. Genera include: *'' Acanthoprasium'' *'' Achyrospermum'' *'' Acrotome'' *'' Ajugoides'' *'' Anisomeles'' *''Ballota'' *'' Betonica'' *'' Brazoria'' *'' Chaiturus'' *'' Chamaesphacos'' ...

of family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

. It is native to tropical Asia.

Description

The plant grows to a height of up to .

Stipules In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole). Stipules are considered part of the anatomy of the leaf of a typical flowering plant, although in many speci ...

are absent, the taproot is white or brown, and the

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

quadrangular Quadrangle or The Quadrangle may refer to: Architecture * Quadrangle (architecture), a courtyard surrounded by a building or several buildings, often at a college Various specific quadrangles, often called "the quad" or "the quadrangle": North ...

. Sub-sessile leaves are linear-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, long, not lobed or divided, blunt at the tip, obtuse, entire or cerrulate,

gland In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

ular, hispid and coarsely dentate at the margins. Whorls of many flowers are

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

, sessile or sub-sessile, usually in terminal whorls in diameter, grouped together in an axillary,

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name * Corolla (headgear), an ancient headdress in the form of a circlet or crown * ''Corolla'' (gastropod), a genus of moll ...

white in color and 2 cm long.

Calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

is long, and obliquely turbinate, with minute teeth, apex acute, base acute, pinnately veined, erect or spreading horizontally. It is reproduced by seed and pollinated by bees moths and flies. Leucas belongs to the subfamily Lamioideae, and is closely related to the small genera ''

Acrotome ''Acrotome'' is a genus of plants in the family Lamiaceae, first described in 1838. The genus is native to the southern part of Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At ...

'' and ''

Leonotis ''Leonotis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae.Raymond M. Harley, Sandy Atkins, Andrey L. Budantsev, Philip D. Cantino, Barry J. Conn, Renée J. Grayer, Madeline M. Harley, Rogier P.J. de Kok, Tatyana V. Krestovskaja, Ramón ...

''.

Habitat

Plant occurs in various habitats, a weed of sunny dry localities, often on sandy soils, paddy dams, waste places, open grasslands, road-sides from the lowland up to in altitude. It is widely distributed throughout Southeast Asia, but is rather rare in East Asia.

Constituents

A decoction of the herb prepared by boiling with a soda solution emits a strong

odor An odor (American English) or odour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds ...

; when condensed, the vapor yields ammonia and a volatile alkaloid in the distillate.

Uses

Culinary

The whole herb has a bitter taste, but is still used as flavoring or

potherb Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

Traditional medicine

The indigenous tribes in the

Satpuda The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and these ...

region of Dhule and Jalgaon districts of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

use ''L. zeylanicain'' for fever, jaundice, and for scorpion and snake bites.

Agricultural

Many species in the genus ''Leucas'' are becoming serious weeds in rice fields, sugarcane, and banana plantations.

Cultural

The flower of Thumba plant is the central part of Onam festival in Kerala. The tiny flower of the plant is very important for laying Pookkalam.

Essential oil

''Leucas zeylanica'' yields a small amount of

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

on distillation. The major components are oleic acid, hexadecanoic acid, 1-octen-3-ol, and caryophyllene. It has the ability to inhibit of test

bacterial growth 250px, Growth is shown as ''L'' = log(numbers) where numbers is the number of colony forming units per ml, versus ''T'' (time.) Bacterial growth is proliferation of bacterium into two daughter cells, in a process called binary fission. Providing ...

, especially '' Escherichia coli'' and ''

Salmonella enteritidis ''Salmonella enterica'' subsp. ''enterica'' is a subspecies of ''Salmonella enterica'', the rod-shaped, flagellated, aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium. Many of the pathogenic serovars of the ''S. enterica'' species are in this subspecies, includi ...

''.

Research

In a study of 32 plants species collected from

serpentine Serpentine may refer to: Shapes * Serpentine shape, a shape resembling a serpent * Serpentine curve, a mathematical curve * Serpentine, a type of riding figure Science and nature * Serpentine subgroup, a group of minerals * Serpentinite, a ...

( ultramafic) soils in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and screened for antimicrobial properties, ''L. zeylanica'' showed photo-mediated activity against ''

Staphylococcus aureus ''Staphylococcus aureus'' is a Gram-positive spherically shaped bacterium, a member of the Bacillota, and is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is often positive ...

'' and '' Bacillus subtilis''. ''L. zeylanica'' showed population-level variation in photoactivity. Study suggests plants from serpentine environments may have alterered antimicrobial activities compared to non-serpentine environments, and that attention is needed in deciding on the substrate and habitat when collecting plants to test for antimicrobial properties.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3205633 zeylanica Flora of tropical Asia Flora of China Plants used in Ayurveda