Calea is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae.Linnaeus, Carl von. 1763. Species Plantarum, Editio Secunda 2: 1179 in Latin They are distributed in tropical and subtropical regionsdo Nascimento, A. M., et al. (2007). Chromanones with leishmanicidal activity from Calea uniflora. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung 62(5-6), 353-56. in Mexico, Central America, and South America.Ferraz, A., et al. (2009). Pharmacological and genotoxic evaluation of Calea clematidea and Calea uniflora. Latin American Journal of Pharmacy 28(6), 858-62.Pozo, P. and D. N. Hind. (2013). A new species of Calea sect. Meyeria (Compositae: Heliantheae: Neurolaeninae), Calea woodii, from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Kew Bulletin 68, 1-5.
Extracts of Calea species have produced antifungal, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, larvicidal, antiplasmodial, and antihypertensive effects in experiments. Some species are used in traditional medicine and ritual. Calea clematidea is used to treat influenza. Calea ternifolia is used in Mexico to treat dysentery and fever, and native peoples use it to influence their dreams.
Species 161 species are accepted.Calea L. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
Formerly placed here In 2023 John F. Pruski reclassified many Calea species into the new genera Laceanthos (formerly Calea sect. Haplocalea), Podocalea (formerly Calea sect. Monanthocalea), and Tepuipappus, and into the revived genera Lemmatium, Meyeria, and Tonalanthus.Pruski, J.F. 2023. The new genera Laceanthos, Podocalea, Tepuipappus, the resurrected genera Lemmatium, Meyeria, Tonalanthus, and other novelties in the Calea Alliance I. Phytoneuron 2023-42: 1–171. Published 6 November 2023. ISSN 2153-733X As of June 2025, Plants of the World Online still considers Meyeria to be a synonym of Calea. Tonalanthus megacephalus (as Calea megacephala )
Names brought to synonymy Calea elegans DC., a synonym for Perymenium acuminatum, a plant found in Mexico
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