Tribe Mentheae Higher classification Ociminae | Subfamily Nepetoideae Scientific name Platostoma Rank Genus | |
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Lower classifications Chinese mesona, Sedge warbler, Great reed warbler, Aquatic warbler, Paddyfield warbler | ||
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. Mesona 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), 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
There are about 44-46 accepted species as below:
- Platostoma africanum P.Beauv - tropical Africa, southern India, Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia
- Platostoma annamense (G.Taylor) A.J.Paton - Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia
- Platostoma axillaris (Benth.) A.J.Paton - Assam
- Platostoma becquerelii Suddee & A.J.Paton - Cambodia
- Platostoma borzianum (Chiov.) ined.. - Ethiopia
- Platostoma calcaratum (Hemsl.) A.J.Paton - southern China, northern Indochina
- Platostoma cambodgense Suddee & A.J.Paton - Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
- Platostoma clausum (Merr.) A.J.Paton - Culion Island in Philippines
- Platostoma cochinchinense (Lour.) A.J.Paton - southern China, Indochina, Java, Sumatra
- Platostoma coeruleum (R.E.Fr.) A.J.Paton - Angola, Zambia
- Platostoma coloratum (D.Don) A.J.Paton - Yunnan, eastern Himalayas, northern Indochina
- Platostoma denticulatum Robyns - central Africa from Cameroon east to Tanzania and south to Angola
- Platostoma dilungense (Lisowski & Mielcarek) A.J.Paton - Zaïre, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi
- Platostoma elongatum (Benth.) A.J.Paton - Sri Lanka, southern India
- Platostoma fastigiatum A.J.Paton & Hedge - Madagascar
- Platostoma fimbriatum A.J.Paton - Thailand
- Platostoma gabonense A.J.Paton - Cameroon, Gabon, Tanzania
- Platostoma glomerulatum A.J.Paton & Hedge - Madagascar
- Platostoma grandiflorum Suddee & A.J.Paton - eastern Indochina
- Platostoma helenae (Buscal. & Muschl.) ined.. - Mozambique
- Platostoma hildebrandtii (Vatke) A.J.Paton & Hedge - Kenya, Tanzania
- Platostoma hispidum (L.) A.J.Paton - Southeast Asia, southern China, Assam, New Guinea
- Platostoma intermedium A.J.Paton - Thailand
- Platostoma kerrii Suddee & A.J.Paton - Thailand, Cambodia
- Platostoma lanceolatum (Chermsir. ex Murata) A.J.Paton - Thailand
- Platostoma laxiflorum A.J.Paton & Hedge - Madagascar
- Platostoma leptochilon Robyns - Zaïre
- Platostoma longicorne (F.Muell.) A.J.Paton - Queensland, New Guinea
- Platostoma madagascariense (Benth.) A.J.Paton & Hedge - Madagascar
- Platostoma mekongense Suddee - Thailand
- Platostoma menthoides (L.) A.J.Paton - Sri Lanka, southern India
- Platostoma montanum (Robyns) A.J.Paton - Zaïre, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi
- Platostoma ocimoides (G.Taylor) A.J.Paton - Thailand, Cambodia
- Platostoma palniense (Mukerjee) A.J.Paton - southern India
- Platostoma palustre (Blume) A.J.Paton - Southeast Asia, southern China, Assam, Bangladesh, New Guinea
- Platostoma rotundifolium (Briq.) A.J.Paton - tropical + southern Africa
- Platostoma rubrum Suddee & A.J.Paton - Thailand, Laos
- Platostoma siamense (Murata) A.J.Paton - Thailand
- Platostoma stoloniferum (G.Taylor) A.J.Paton - Thailand, Laos
- Platostoma strictum (Hiern) A.J.Paton - Zaïre, Angola, Zambia, Malawi
- Platostoma taylorii Suddee & A.J.Paton - Thailand, Cambodia
- Platostoma tectum A.J.Paton - Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
- Platostoma tenellum (Benth.) A.J.Paton & Hedge - Madagascar
- Platostoma thymifolium (Benth.) A.J.Paton & Hedge - Madagascar
- Platostoma tridechii Suddee - Thailand
- Platostoma verbenifolium (Watt ex Mukerjee) A.J.Paton - Assam, Bangladesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar
References
Platostoma Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA