7350.000 Plectranthus L'Hér.

COLEUS Lour.

ENGLERASTRUM Briq.

HOLOSTYLON Robyns & J.-P. Lebrun

NEOHYPTIS J.K. Morton

SOLENOSTEMON Thonn.

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial herbs or subshrubs. Stems herbaceous or woody below, sometimes succulent. Inflorescence paniculate, racemose or subspicate, usually terminal. Flowers in whorls, few-flowered cymes or dichasia, occasionally solitary. Bracts small, clearly differentiated from the leaves. Calyx 2-lipped (the upper lip consisting of a large single tooth, the lower lip of 4 lanceolate-triangular or subulate teeth) or subequally 5-toothed. Corolla 2-lipped, tube usually bent and expanded near the base; upper lip usually 4-lobed, shorter than the boat-shaped lower lip. Stamens 4; filaments free or united at base. Stigma shortly 2-lobed. Nutlets smooth.

Comment: Recent phylogenetic studies have resulted in a considerable reduction in the number of species in the genus Plectranthus. Many species have now been (re)assigned to the revived genus Coleus or to the newly described genus Equilabium.

Worldwide: c. 300 species from tropical and warm parts of the Old World

Zimbabwe: 2 cultivated taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Junonia orithya (Eyed pansy) Food plant
Precis archesia (Garden commodore, Garden inspector) Food plant
No image of a cultivated species but there is an image of a native or naturalised species

Links to cultivated taxa    View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesContent
ecklonii Benth.
scutellarioides (L.) R. Br.

Other sources of information about Plectranthus:

Our websites:

Flora of Malawi: Plectranthus
Flora of Mozambique: Plectranthus
Flora of Zambia: Plectranthus
Flora of Zimbabwe: Plectranthus

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Plectranthus
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Plectranthus
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Plectranthus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Plectranthus
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Plectranthus
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Plectranthus
JSTOR Plant Science: Plectranthus
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Plectranthus
Plants of the World Online: Plectranthus
Tropicos: Plectranthus
Wikipedia: Plectranthus

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2002-24

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2024). Flora of Zimbabwe: Cultivated plants: genus page: Plectranthus.
https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/genus.php?genus_id=1231, retrieved 19 March 2024

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