Viewing post #693502 by rattlebox

You are viewing a single post made by rattlebox in the thread called Orange flowers, amazingly cool..
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Sep 4, 2014 10:18 PM CST
Name: Ron
Naples, Florida (Zone 10a)
Region: Florida Hummingbirder Butterflies Adeniums Bromeliad Hibiscus
Foliage Fan Plant and/or Seed Trader Xeriscape Seed Starter Garden Ideas: Level 1 Plant Identifier
Greene nailed it! I tip my hat to you. Thumbs up Thumbs up
Most definitely Leonotis leonurus.

In the second photo, you see most of the shrub, all the way to the ground. All leaves are lanceolate as with L. leonurus, while with L. nepetifolia, only the top couple leaves are lanceolate, the vast majority being arrowhead/chordate in shape.

Secondly, look at the "seed pod ball" after the spent flowers have dropped. Greene casually slipped a link "Prickly Seed Pods?" into the bottom of her post that shows the character of L. nepetifolia pods very well. The pod outer surface is a mass of spikelets that are stiff and VERY sharp, You just can't putz around with these plants without getting stabbed multiple times. With L. leonurus, the pod is more like a round honeycomb. There are no sharp spikes.

In my experience, L. nepetifolia is an annual that produces hundreds and hundreds of seed, while L. leonurus is a perennial shrub and very stingy with seed; I can only seem to collect a few at any given time (though YMMV). Luckily, L. leonurus strikes readily from cuttings, so seed are not important for propagation.
[He] decided that if a few quiet beers wouldn't allow him to see things in a different light, then a few more probably would. - Terry Pratchett

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