Bean, Revision of Anisomeles 
325 
is found in Australia as far south as the 
Queensland-New South Wales border. Most 
members of the genus are confined to the 
tropics; only A. moschata extends south 
of the Tropic of Capricorn, while only A. 
indica extends north of the Tropic of Cancer. 
The species diversity is greatest in tropical 
Australia, especially the ‘Top End’ of Northern 
Territory and in northern Queensland. The 
genus has not been recorded on any of the 
islands of the southern Pacific Ocean, except 
as a naturalised alien. 
Ctyology 
Krishnappa & Basavaraj (1982) reported 
2 n = 34 for Anisomeles indica , and several 
other studies have confirmed this. The same 
authors reported 2 n = 34 for A. malabarica; 
this is supported by most other studies, but 
Thoppil & Jose (1998) recorded 2n = 32. No 
chromosome counts have been published for 
Australian Anisomeles spp. 
Discussion of morphological characters 
1. Habit 
Anisomeles species may be prostrate (Fig. 
IB) or may reach three metres in height, 
according to labels of specimens from both 
Asia and Australia, but more usually they 
are in the height range 0.6-1.5 m (Fig. 1C). 
Upright plants may become top-heavy and 
lean over with large stems resting on the 
ground, but continuing to grow; such plants 
have here been termed procumbent. 
2. Stem indumentum 
Anisomeles species display a range of hair 
types, and the structure, direction, density 
and size of hairs are all diagnostic. The three 
common hair types are 1. the hispid hair (Fig. 
2A). This hair type is erect (± perpendicular 
to the stem), relatively straight, eglandular, 
multicellular and longer than 1 mm. The 
presence of this hair type is partly related 
to ontogeny. Most species have dense hispid 
hairs throughout the stem on young plants, but 
as the plant ages these are usually lost, at least 
from the upper portions of the plant. From the 
small proportion of herbarium specimens that 
include the entire plant, it is evident that in the 
majority of species, hispid hairs persist at the 
basal part of the stem on mature plants. They 
are apparently absent in A. farinacea and A. 
ornans. In this study, comparisons between 
taxa involving this hair type were made only 
from the upper stems, 1-3 nodes below the 
most proximal verticil. 2. the short, curved, 
eglandular hair (Fig. 2B). This type is found 
on the majority of taxa, and varies in density 
from very sparse to dense, though on any 
given taxon, the density is relatively uniform. 
On the stems of a few species, these hairs 
are antrorse; but in most species the hairs 
are retrorse. In some taxa with very densely 
tomentose stems, the hairs are somewhat 
variable in direction. 3. the stalked glandular 
hair (Fig. 2C). These are 0.1-0.3 mm long 
and erect. They are frequently present on 
the calyx and rachis, but on the stems they 
are usually (depending on the taxon) either 
abundant or absent. 
The hair types present, in combination with 
their density, allows the partial identification 
of many species from sterile material. 
3. Leaf morphology and indumentum 
Leaf shape is more or less consistent for 
any given taxon, and the leaf base may be 
attenuate, narrowly cuneate, broadly cuneate 
or obtuse (Figs. 3, 4, 5). The leaves of all 
species are lobed, with the margins being 
crenate, dentate or serrate. The shape, number 
and the depth of the lobes are diagnostic for 
some species. At the peak of each lobe is a 
prominent gland. The length of the petiole 
relative to the lamina is also a useful measure 
that discriminates some taxa. 
For the purposes of this paper, the ‘cauline 
leaves’ are defined as those that are three or 
more nodes below the most proximal verticil. 
The ‘upper leaves’, i.e. those adjacent to or 1 
or 2 nodes below the most proximal verticil, 
have been measured only when cauline 
leaves are not available. The ‘leaves’ or 
‘bracts’ subtending a verticil (except the most 
proximal) are referred to as ‘floral bracts’. 
The indumentum types present on the 
leaves are often the same as on the stems, but 
the direction is never retrorse - they are either 
antrorse, erect, or flexuose with no fixed 
direction. The difference in density between 
