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. Mesona and Acrocephalus has been known as its synonyms.
A widely consumed species in this genus is Platostoma palustre, or xiancao in Mandarin, sian-chháu in Taiwanese, leung fun cho 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. Platostoma africanum P.Beauv — tropical Africa, southern India, Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia
  2. Platostoma annamense A.J.Paton — Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia
  3. Platostoma axillaris A.J.Paton — Assam
  4. Platostoma becquerelii Suddee & A.J.Paton — Cambodia
  5. Platostoma borzianum ined.. — Ethiopia
  6. Platostoma calcaratum A.J.Paton — southern China, northern Indochina
  7. Platostoma cambodgense Suddee & A.J.Paton — Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos
  8. Platostoma clausum A.J.Paton — Culion Island in Philippines
  9. Platostoma cochinchinense A.J.Paton — southern China, Indochina, Java, Sumatra
  10. Platostoma coeruleum A.J.Paton — Angola, Zambia
  11. Platostoma coloratum 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 A.J.Paton — Zaïre, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi
  14. Platostoma elongatum 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 ined.. — Mozambique
  21. Platostoma hildebrandtii A.J.Paton & Hedge — Kenya, Tanzania
  22. Platostoma hispidum 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 A.J.Paton — Thailand
  26. Platostoma laxiflorum A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  27. Platostoma leptochilon Robyns — Zaïre
  28. Platostoma longicorne A.J.Paton — Queensland, New Guinea
  29. Platostoma madagascariense A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  30. Platostoma mekongense Suddee — Thailand
  31. Platostoma menthoides A.J.Paton — Sri Lanka, southern India
  32. Platostoma montanum A.J.Paton — Zaïre, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi
  33. Platostoma ocimoides A.J.Paton — Thailand, Cambodia
  34. Platostoma palniense A.J.Paton — southern India
  35. Platostoma palustre A.J.Paton — Southeast Asia, southern China, Assam, Bangladesh, New Guinea
  36. Platostoma rotundifolium A.J.Paton — tropical and southern Africa
  37. Platostoma rubrum Suddee & A.J.Paton — Thailand, Laos
  38. Platostoma siamense A.J.Paton — Thailand
  39. Platostoma stoloniferum A.J.Paton — Thailand, Laos
  40. Platostoma strictum 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 A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  44. Platostoma thymifolium A.J.Paton & Hedge — Madagascar
  45. Platostoma tridechii Suddee — Thailand
  46. Platostoma verbenifolium A.J.Paton — Assam, Bangladesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Myanmar