Native to South Africa, Leonotis leonurus occupies an extraordinary range of habitats, from rocky grasslands and forest margins to exposed open country and coastal regions. Its ability to establish in varied soils and endure periods of heat and seasonal dryness has helped make it one of southern Africa's most recognisable flowering shrubs.
Its relationship with wildlife is embedded directly in regional language. One recorded isiZulu name, utshwala-bezinyoni, translates as “beer of birds”, a vivid reference to the copious nectar held within the plant's long tubular flowers and eagerly sought by sunbirds.
That relationship is written into the structure of the flower itself. Leonotis leonurus is primarily bird-pollinated in its native range, and its elongated corollas are particularly well suited to the curved bills of nectar-feeding African sunbirds. Bees and other flower-visiting insects also make frequent use of the abundant nectar.
Even the scientific name reflects the extraordinary flowers. Leonotis derives from Greek words meaning lion and ear, referring to the hairy, hood-like upper lip of the flower that early botanists thought resembled a lion's ear.
The species also has a remarkably long history in cultivation outside Africa. Lion's Tail was among the Cape plants introduced into European horticulture and appears in European gardening literature as early as 1673.
