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natural herbicide, an antioxidant, an anti¬ 
microbial agent, an anti-inflammatory, an 
inhibitor of the HIV virus, and an inhibitor of 
tumour cell proliferation. 
Chemical analysis of Anisomeles indica 
has revealed the presence of numerous 
terpenoid compounds, including Anisomelic 
Acid (Arisawa et al. 1986), and 15 essential 
oil constituents (Yadava & Barsainya 
1998). Anisomeles malabarica has been 
shown to possess Anisomelic Acid, as 
well as Anisomelolide, Malabaric Acid, 
2-Acetoxymalabaric Acid, Anisomelyl 
Acetate and Anisomelol (Preethy et al. 2013), 
and essential oils. 
Surprisingly, the available literature on 
Australian Aboriginal ethnobotany makes no 
mention of Anisomeles spp. Nor have there 
been any chemical analyses performed on 
Australian Anisomeles spp. 
Ecology and phytogeography 
All Anisomeles species are short-lived 
perennial shrubs. In areas where the climate 
is mesic, there may be continual growth for 
some years. In places that are very dry for 
part of the year, the leaves abscise and the 
stems die back to ground level, then new 
stems sprout from a woody rootstock upon the 
arrival of the wet season. The same response 
occurs after a fire. Anisomeles spp. do not 
seem to be pioneer plants that colonise newly 
burnt ground, but they are certainly fire- 
adapted. 
The present author was unable to 
germinate any Anisomeles seeds. I tried 
fresh field-collected seeds, as well as seeds 
extracted from recently collected herbarium 
specimens. A few seeds from each seedlot 
were dissected to confirm the presence of 
a plump embryo. Seedlots were variously 
untreated, hot-water treated, or scarified. All 
seeds were placed in petri dishes on blotting 
paper and kept moist for five weeks, with 
temperatures ranging from 17° to 27° C. No 
germination was recorded for any treatment 
or seedlot. Aluri (1992) similarly reported 
failure in germinating seeds of A. indica , 
using different unspecified treatments in a 
greenhouse, and he concluded that there are 
Austrobaileya 9(3): 321-381 (2015) 
unknown barriers for breaking dormancy 
and subsequent germination. In contrast, 
Fryer (2006) recorded that Anisomeles seeds 
germinated at Kings Park, Perth, in 9-42 
days with no special treatment. 
Anisomeles species inhabit a wide range of 
soil types, from sands to clays, but in all cases 
freely draining. In some instances, the soil 
is skeletal in rocky gorges and escarpments. 
The parent material can be sandstone, granite, 
limestone or basalt. The distribution of some 
species extends into littoral areas including 
continental islands, but they usually occur 
away from the direct influence of salt-laden 
winds. 
Aluri (1992) reported that Anisomeles 
malabarica and A. indica are pollinated 
mainly by sunbirds ( Nectarinia sp.) and 
carpenter bees (Xylocopa spp.). The bees 
land on the lower corolla lip and insert their 
proboscis into the base of the flower, and in 
so doing the stigma brushes against the back 
of its head and its thorax. The sunbird lands 
on the inflorescence rachis and probes several 
flowers in the vicinity, contacting the stigma 
with its pollen-laden bill and forehead. 
No hybrids between Anisomeles spp. have 
been reported in Australian literature, nor 
indicated on specimen labels, nor observed 
by the current author. However, Aluri 
(1992) has reported the existence of a single 
individual with morphological characteristics 
intermediate between A. malabarica and 
A. indica , naturally occurring at Turimella, 
India. Aluri & Subba Reddi (1989) bagged 
unmanipulated flowers of A. malabarica and 
A. indica , and found that the plants were self- 
and cross-compatible and self- and cross- 
pollinating. Fruit and seed production was 
higher in cross-pollinated plants, but plants 
can produce limited seed in the absence of 
pollinators. 
Anisomeles is distributed in northern 
Australia, Malesia and southern Asia. It 
extends west as far as Pakistan, north to the 
Himalayan Range, and east to the Ryukyu 
Islands of Japan. It is widespread in India 
and south-east Asia, and occurs, somewhat 
sporadically, in the islands of Malesia. It 
