Source: Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf (syn. Andropogon citratus DC.) and C. flexuosus (Nees ex Steud.) W. Wats. (syn. A. flexuosus Nees) (Family Gramineae or Poaceae).
Common/vernacular names: West Indian lemongrass, Madagascar lemongrass, Guatemala lemongrass (C. citratus); East Indian lemongrass, Cochin lemongrass, native lemongrass, and British Indian lemongrass (C. flexuosus).
Perennial grasses both native to tropical Asia. East Indian lemongrass (C. flexuosus) is cultivated mainly in western India and nearby countries, while West Indian lemongrass (C. citratus) is cultivated in the tropics worldwide (West Indies, Central and South America, Africa, and tropical Asia). Leaf blades are linear, long attenuate toward the base tapering upward to a long setaceous point ca. 90 × 0.6 cm, glaceous green more or less smooth, less rough upward. Parts used are the freshly cut and partially dried leaves of cultivated plants from which the essential oils are obtained by steam distillation. India is the major producer of East Indian lemongrass oil, while major producers of the West Indian oil include Guatemala, Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, Brazil, Malaysia, and Vietnam.