Leonurus japonicus Houtt.
Detail
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Botanical Name
- Leonurus japonicus Houtt.
- Common Name
- Honeyweed, Chinese Motherwort
- Synonym(s)
- Leonurus sibiricus L., misapplied
- Flora of Virginia Name/Status
- in Taxa Not Treated: Waifs
- Comments
- Leonurus japonicus is native to tropical Asia and naturalized worldwide, including scattered locations throughout North America. For many years, it was known in Virginia as a cultivated escape from a single site in Gloucester County, but more recent collections indicate that it is capable of becoming a prolific weed in some situations and may be overlooked and under-documented to some extent. This species has been confused with a similar species, L. sibiricus, which is endemic to grasslands and pine forests in Russia, Mongolia, and China. The correct application of the names L. sibiricus and L. japonicus was clarified by Harley and Paton in Kew Bull. 56(1): 243, 2001.
- Habitat
- There are multiple collections of this species from several sites in Gloucester County and one from Newport News City; habitats include weedy yards, a roadside, edge of corn field, and a powerline. Populations in Gloucester have persisted for decades. The species is also abundant, and fully naturalized, as a weed over several hundred acres of pastures, hay fields, and idle meadows in an area near Dillwyn, Buckingham County.
- Native Status
- Introduced
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