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.

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.

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