Leonotis leonurus - Lion’s tail
Family Lamiaceae

Description:

About fourteen species of Leonotis are native to Africa with one species ranging to India. Lion’s tail is the commonest in cultivation in Florida. It grows as a tall, upright clump of stems. Flowers are clusters of orange tubes produced through summer to the first hard freeze.

Location:

See plants along the south side of building 832B.

Size:

Herbaceous perennial to about six feet tall.

Care Instructions:

Light: full sun

Water: average, somewhat drought tolerant

Soil: average soil, no special requirements

Lion’s tail is an easy plant for a sunny, well-drained soil in northeast Florida. It is evergreen in warmer climates. In Jacksonville, a hard freeze will kill it to the ground and it usually resprouts the following spring.