''Pogostemon'' is a large genus from the family Lamiaceae, first described as a genus in 1815. It is native to warmer parts of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and Australia.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The best known member of this genus is

patchouli PatchouliAlso spelled ''patchouly'' or ''pachouli''. (; ''Pogostemon cablin'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, commonly called the mint or deadnettle family. The plant grows as a bushy perennial herb, with erect stems r ...

, ''Pogostemon cablin'', widely cultivated in Asia for its scented foliage, used for

perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...

insect repellent An insect repellent (also commonly called "bug spray") is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces to discourage insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface. Insect repellents help prevent and cont ...

herbal tea Herbal teas, also known as herbal infusions and less commonly called tisanes (UK and US , US also ), are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Oftentimes herb tea, or the plain term ...

, etc. In 1997, it was proposed for the genus to be split into three subgenera— '' Allopogostemon'' Bhatti & Ingr., ''Dysophyllus'' (Blume) Bhatti & Ingr., and ''Pogostemon'' sensu Bhatti & Ingr. based on numerous morphological characteristics. However, the significant variability in these traits as well as possible

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

within this genus has made classification of species challenging. Some members of the genus (ie. Pogostemon erectus, Pogostemon stellatus, Pogostemon helferi) are grown ornamentally in the aquarium hobby and are used for aquascaping.

Selected species

Species include: *'' Pogostemon amaranthoides'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon andersonii'' (Prain) Panigrahi *'' Pogostemon aquaticus'' (C.H.Wright) Press *'' Pogostemon atropurpureus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon auricularius '' (L.) Hassk. - southeast Asia *'' Pogostemon barbatus'' Bhoti & Ingr. *''

Pogostemon benghalensis ''Pogostemon'' is a large genus from the family Lamiaceae, first described as a genus in 1815. It is native to warmer parts of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The best known member of this genus is patchouli, ''Pogostemon cablin'', widely cultivat ...

'' (Burm.f.) Kuntze *'' Pogostemon brachystachyus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon brevicorollus'' Y.Z.Sun *''

Pogostemon cablin PatchouliAlso spelled ''patchouly'' or ''pachouli''. (; ''Pogostemon cablin'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, commonly called the mint or deadnettle family. The plant grows as a bushy perennial herb, with erect stems ...

'' (Blanco) Benth. - South Asia & southeast Asia *'' Pogostemon championii'' Prain *'' Pogostemon chinensis'' C.Y.Wu & Y.C.Huang *'' Pogostemon crassicaulis'' (Benth.) Press *'' Pogostemon cristatus'' Hassk. *'' Pogostemon cruciatus'' (Benth.) Kuntze *'' Pogostemon dasianus'' A.B.De & Mukerjee *'' Pogostemon deccanensis'' (Panigrahi) Press *'' Pogostemon dielsianus'' Dunn *'' Pogostemon elatispicatus'' Bhoti & Ingr. *'' Pogostemon elsholtzioides'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon erectus'' (Dalzell) Kuntze *'' Pogostemon esquirolii'' (H.Lév.) C.Y.Wu & Y.C.Huang *'' Pogostemon falcatus'' (C.Y.Wu) C.Y.Wu & H.W.Li *'' Pogostemon formosanus'' Oliv. - Taiwan *'' Pogostemon fraternus'' Miq. *'' Pogostemon gardneri'' Hook.f. *'' Pogostemon glaber'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon glabratus'' Chermsir. ex Press *'' Pogostemon globulosus'' Phuong ex Suddee & A.J.Paton *'' Pogostemon griffithii'' Prain *'' Pogostemon hedgei'' V.S.Kumar & B.D.Sharma *'' Pogostemon helferi'' (Hook.f.) Press *'' Pogostemon heyneanus'' Benth. - South Asia & southeast Asia *'' Pogostemon hirsutus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon hispidocalyx'' C.Y.Wu & Y.C.Huang *'' Pogostemon hispidus'' (Benth.) Prain *'' Pogostemon kachinensis'' (Mukerjee) Panigrahi *'' Pogostemon koehneanus'' (Muschl.) Press *'' Pogostemon linearis'' (Benth.) Kuntze *'' Pogostemon litigiosus'' Doan ex Suddee & A.J.Paton *'' Pogostemon lythroides'' (Diels) Press *'' Pogostemon macgregorii'' W.W.Sm. *'' Pogostemon manipurensis'' V.S.Kumar *'' Pogostemon membranaceus'' Merr. *'' Pogostemon menthoides'' Blume *'' Pogostemon micangensis'' G.Taylor *'' Pogostemon mollis'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon mutamba'' (Hiern) G.Taylor *'' Pogostemon myosuroides'' (Roth) Kuntze *'' Pogostemon nelsonii'' Doan ex Suddee & A.J.Paton *'' Pogostemon nepetoides'' Stapf *'' Pogostemon nigrescens'' Dunn *'' Pogostemon nilagiricus'' Gamble *'' Pogostemon paludosus'' Benth. - southern India *'' Pogostemon paniculatus'' (Willd.) Benth. *'' Pogostemon parviflorus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon peethapushpum'' Pradeep *'' Pogostemon peguanus'' (Prain) Press *'' Pogostemon pentagonus'' (C.B.Clarke ex Hook.f.) Kuntze *'' Pogostemon petiolaris'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon philippinensis'' S.Moore *'' Pogostemon plectrantoides'' Desf. *'' Pogostemon pressii'' Panigrahi *'' Pogostemon pubescens'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon pumilus'' (Graham) Press *'' Pogostemon purpurascens'' Dalzell *'' Pogostemon quadrifolius'' (Benth.) F.Muell. *'' Pogostemon raghavendranii'' R.Murugan & Livingst. *'' Pogostemon rajendranii'' Ramasamy *'' Pogostemon reflexus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon reticulatus'' Merr. *'' Pogostemon rogersii'' N.E.Br. *'' Pogostemon rotundatus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon rugosus'' (Hook.f.) El Gazzar & L.Watson *'' Pogostemon rupestris'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon salicifolius'' (Dalzell ex Hook.f.) El Gazzar & L.Watson *'' Pogostemon sampsonii'' (Hance) Press *'' Pogostemon septentrionalis'' C.Y.Wu & Y.C.Huang *'' Pogostemon speciosus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon stellatus'' (Lour.) Kuntze - southeast Asia, southern China, northern Australia *'' Pogostemon stocksii'' (Hook.f.) Press *'' Pogostemon strigosus'' (Benth.) Benth. *'' Pogostemon szemaoensis'' (C.Y.Wu & S.J.Hsuan) Press *'' Pogostemon tisserantii'' (Pellegr.) Bhoti & Ingr. *'' Pogostemon travancoricus'' Bedd. *'' Pogostemon trinervis'' Chermsir. ex Press *'' Pogostemon tuberculosus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon velatus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon vestitus'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon villosus'' (Roxb.) Benth. *'' Pogostemon wattii'' C.B.Clarke *'' Pogostemon wightii'' Benth. *'' Pogostemon williamsii'' Elmer *'' Pogostemon xanthiifolius'' C.Y.Wu & Y.C.Huang *'' Pogostemon yatabeanus'' (Makino) Press

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q855490 Lamiaceae genera Taxa named by René Louiche Desfontaines