Leonotis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. One species, Leonotis nepetifolia, is native to tropical Africa and southern India. It is naturalized throughout most of the tropics. The other species are endemic to southern + eastern Africa. Leonotis was named by Robert Brown in 1810 in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. The name means "lion's ear". The type for the genus is the specimen of Leonotis ocymifolia that was originally described as Leonotis leonitis. It is a specimen of Leonotis ocymifolia var. ocymifolia.