Platostoma Explained

Platostoma is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, first described as a genus in 1818. It is native to tropical parts of Africa, southern Asia, Papuasia, and Australia.[1] Mesona[2] [3] and Acrocephalus has been known as its synonyms.

A widely consumed species in this genus is Platostoma palustre (synonyms Mesona chinensis, M. elegans, and M. procumbens),[4] or xiancao (仙草) in Mandarin, sian-chháu (仙草) in Taiwanese, leung fun cho (涼粉草) in Cantonese, sương sáo in Vietnamese, and cincau in Indonesian and Malay.It is eaten as a snack in drinks, or set as a gel and served as a grass jelly.

In Indonesia the Platostoma palustre leaf is used to make a black jelly; there is also an instant powder variety available.

Species

51 species are accepted.

  1. Platostoma africanum P.Beauv — tropical Africa, southern India, Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia
  2. Platostoma albiflorum – Thailand
  3. Platostoma annamense (G.Taylor) A.J.Paton — Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia
  4. Platostoma axillaris (Benth.) A.J.Paton — Assam
  5. Platostoma becquerelii Suddee & A.J.Paton — Cambodia
  6. Platostoma busbanianum – Thailand
  7. Platostoma calcaratum (Hemsl.) A.J.Paton — southern China, northern Indochina
  8. Platostoma cambodgense Suddee & A.J.Paton — Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
  9. Platostoma clausum (Merr.) A.J.Paton — Culion Island in Philippines
  10. Platostoma cochinchinense (Lour.) A.J.Paton — southern China, Indochina, Java, Sumatra
  11. Platostoma coeruleum (R.E.Fr.) A.J.Paton — Angola, Zambia
  12. Platostoma coloratum (D.Don) A.J.Paton — Yunnan, eastern Himalayas, northern Indochina
  13. Platostoma denticulatum Robyns — central Africa from Cameroon east to Tanzania and south to Angola
  14. Platostoma dilungense (Lisowski & Mielcarek) A.J.Paton — Zaïre, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi
  15. Platostoma elongatum (Benth.) A.J.Paton — Sri Lanka, southern India
  16. Platostoma fastigiatum A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  17. Platostoma fimbriatum A.J.Paton — Thailand
  18. Platostoma gabonense A.J.Paton — Cameroon, Gabon, Tanzania
  19. Platostoma glomerulatum A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  20. Platostoma grandiflorum Suddee & A.J.Paton — eastern Indochina
  21. Platostoma helenae (Buscal. & Muschl.) ined.. — Mozambique
  22. Platostoma hemratianum – Thailand
  23. Platostoma hildebrandtii (Vatke) A.J.Paton & Hedge — Kenya, Tanzania
  24. Platostoma hispidum (L.) A.J.Paton — Southeast Asia, southern China, Assam, New Guinea
  25. Platostoma intermedium A.J.Paton — Thailand
  26. Platostoma kerrii Suddee & A.J.Paton — Thailand, Cambodia
  27. Platostoma lanceolatum (Chermsir. ex Murata) A.J.Paton — Thailand
  28. Platostoma laxiflorum A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  29. Platostoma leptochilon Robyns — Zaïre
  30. Platostoma longicorne (F.Muell.) A.J.Paton — Queensland, New Guinea
  31. Platostoma madagascariense (Benth.) A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  32. Platostoma mekongense Suddee — Thailand
  33. Platostoma menthoides (L.) A.J.Paton — Sri Lanka, southern India
  34. Platostoma montanum (Robyns) A.J.Paton — Zaïre, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi
  35. Platostoma ocimoides (G.Taylor) A.J.Paton — Thailand, Cambodia
  36. Platostoma ovatum – Thailand
  37. Platostoma palniense (Mukerjee) A.J.Paton — southern India
  38. Platostoma palustre (Blume) A.J.Paton — Southeast Asia, southern China, Assam, Bangladesh, New Guinea
  39. Platostoma parnellianum – Thailand
  40. Platostoma rotundifolium (Briq.) A.J.Paton — tropical and southern Africa
  41. Platostoma rubrum Suddee & A.J.Paton — Thailand, Laos
  42. Platostoma siamense (Murata) A.J.Paton — Thailand
  43. Platostoma stoloniferum (G.Taylor) A.J.Paton — Thailand, Laos
  44. Platostoma strictum (Hiern) A.J.Paton — Zaïre, Angola, Zambia, Malawi
  45. Platostoma taiwanense – Taiwan
  46. Platostoma taylorii Suddee & A.J.Paton — Thailand, Cambodia
  47. Platostoma tectum A.J.Paton — Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
  48. Platostoma tenellum (Benth.) A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  49. Platostoma thymifolium (Benth.) A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  50. Platostoma tridechii Suddee — Thailand
  51. Platostoma verbenifolium (Watt ex Mukerjee) A.J.Paton — Assam, Bangladesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar

Notes and References

  1. http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=157443 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. Book: Quattrocchi, Umberto. World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants. 2012. CRC Press. 978-1-4200-8044-5. 2489. See Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië 838. 1826 and Taiwania 43(1):38–58. 1998..
  3. Book: Don, George. General History of the Dichlamydeous Plantus. 1838. London. 675. from Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: μέσος, mesos, middle; so called because the genus was supposed by the author to be intermediate between Ocimum and Scutellaria..
  4. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200019823 Flora of China

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