Common name: Ceylon slitwort Sinhala name: Geta thumba (ගැටතුඹ) Tamil name: Thumbai (தும்பை) Scientific name: Leucas zeylanica Description: Ceylon slitwort is a small, terrestrial, herbaceous, annual, erect or sometimes tufted, hispid and aromatic plant of the subfamily Lamioideae of family Lamiaceae. It is native to tropical Asia. The plant grows to a height of up to 120 cm (47 in). Stipules are absent, the taproot is white or brown, and the stem is quadrangular. Sub-sessile leaves are linear-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, 2.5-7.5 cm (0.98-2.95 in) long, not lobed or divided, blunt at the tip, obtuse, entire or cerrulate, glandular, hispid and coarsely dentate at the margins. Whorls of many flowers are bisexual, sessile or sub-sessile, usually in terminal whorls 1-2 cm (0.39-0.79 in) in diameter, grouped together in an axillary, corolla white in color and 2 cm long. Calyx is 5-7 mm (0.20-0.28 in) long, and obliquely turbinate, with minute teeth, apex acute, base acute, pinnately veined, erect or spreading horizontally. It is reproduced by seed and pollinated by bees moths and flies. Leucas belongs to the subfamily Lamioideae, and is closely related to the small genera Acrotome and Leonotis. Medicinal uses: Anorexia, Acute and Chronic dyspepsia, Flatulence, Colic, Skin diseases, Wounds, Sores, Itches, Headaches and Vertigo
