Skip to main content

Cat's whiskers (Orthosiphon aristatus)

Remujung or kumis kucing or cat's whiskers (Orthosiphon aristatus) is a plant species in Lamiaceae, upright trunked, famously used as a traditional medicinal plant that has many benefits and uses for overcoming various diseases.

O. aristatus has a rooted bottom at the joints, up to 2 meters high, the stem has four corners and is slightly grooved with short or bare feathers, has segments where branches and leaves grow left and right and are dark purple in color.

Dlium Cat's whiskers (Orthosiphon aristatus)

Oblong-shaped leaves, lanceolate, rounded base and pointed tip, 1-10 cm long, 0.7-1.5 cm wide, serrated edge, a main bone in the middle and several minor bones sideways, dark green, both surfaces are mottled by many glands.

Flowers are white, glands are petals, veins and base of short hair, while at the very top are bald. Terminal crowns are bunches that come out of the ends of branches with a length of 7-29 cm, the upper part is covered by short purple feathers and turns white, tube lengths are 10-18 mm and lip lengths are 4.5-10 mm.

The stamens are longer than the flower tube and exceed the upper lip of the flower. The fruit is dark brown, 1.75-2 mm long, short and sparsely hairy handles, 1-6 mm long. Two varieties recorded are Orthosiphon aristatus var. aristatus and Orthosiphon aristatus var. velteri.

Cat's whiskers are easy to grow on agricultural land, andosol and latosol soils, altitude 500-1,200 m, rainfall more than 3,000 mm/year with full sun and hot to moderate temperatures.



Wet and dry leaves are used to treat a variety of diseases including diuretics, rheumatism, fever, constipation, kidney inflammation, kidney stones, diabetes, albuminuria, syphilis, lowering blood glucose and antibacterial levels.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Subfamily: Nepetoideae
Tribe: Ocimeae
Subtribe: Ociminae
Genus: Orthosiphon
Species: Orthosiphon aristatus
Varieties: Orthosiphon aristatus var. aristatus dan Orthosiphon aristatus var. velteri.

Popular Posts

Bush sorrel (Hibiscus surattensis)

Bush sorrel ( Hibiscus surattensis ) is a plant species in Malvaceae, annual shrub, crawling on the surface or climbing, up to 3 meters long, thorny stems, green leaves, yellow trumpet flowers, grows wild in forests and canal edges, widely used for vegetables and treatment. H. surattensis has stems with spines and hairs, branching and reddish green. Petiole emerges from the stem with a straight edge to the side, up to 11 cm long, sturdy, thorny, hairy and reddish green. The leaves have a length of 10 cm, width of 10 cm, 3-5 lobed, each has a bone in the middle with several pinnate veins, sharp tip, sharp and jagged edges, wavy, stiff, green surface. Flowers up to 10 cm long, trumpet-shaped, yellow with a purple or brown or red center, solitary, axillary. Epicalyx has forked bracts, linear inner branches, spathulate outer branches. Stalks up to 6-7 cm. The seeds have a length of 3-3.5 mm and a width of 2.5 mm. Bush sorrels grow in pastures, marshes, abandoned fields and plantations, ...

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...

Perlis fairy lantern (Thismia perlisensis) resembling Thismia arachnites Ridley and Thismia javanica J.J.Sm.

NEWS - Perlis fairy lantern ( Thismia perlisensis Besi & Rusea sp. nov.) was discovered during a scientific expedition in a wetland forest at the foot of a limestone hill, Perlis State Park, resembling Thismia arachnites Ridley (1905) and Thismia javanica J.J.Sm. (1910), but has a prominent reddish dome-shaped annulus. Thismia perlisensis can be easily distinguished from T. arachnites and T. javanica by its blood-red dome-shaped annulus (vs. ring-like with a rim, orange annulus), prominent trilobed stigma with bifid and subulate lobes 1.8 mm long (vs. oblong, truncated stigma), and claviform apex of inner tepal appendage (vs. subulate apex of inner tepal appendage). Stenoendemic to northern Peninsular Malaysia, Perlis State and possibly Langkawi Island. Although there have been sightings of the plant on Langkawi Island, this location is based solely on photos posted on social media. There are currently no specimens or additional information to confirm. The new species grows in...