Platostoma

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

There are about 44-46 accepted species as below^[1][5]:

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

References