Plectranthus

Plectranthus
Flowers of Plectranthus fruticosus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Subfamily:	Nepetoideae
Tribe:	Ocimeae
Genus:	Plectranthus L'Hér.[1]
Species
Many, see text.
Synonyms
Ascocarydion G.Taylor Burnatastrum Briq. Capitanya Gürke Coleus Lour. Dielsia Kudô Englerastrum Briq. Germanea Lam. Holostylon Robyns & Lebrun Isodictyophorus Briq. Leocus A.Chev. Neomuellera Briq. Perrierastrum Guillaumin Symphostemon Hiern[1]

Plectranthus argentatus

Plectranthus, with some 350 species, is a genus of warm-climate plants occurring largely in the southern hemisphere, in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, India and the Indonesian archipelago down to Australia and some Pacific Islands. They are closely related to Solenostemon and are known as the spurflowers. Several species are grown as ornamental plants, as leaf vegetables, as root vegetables for their edible tubers, or as medicine.^[2]

Plectranthus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia).

Many plants called coleus actually belong to this genus, as Coleus is no longer recognized.

Selected species

Plectranthus actites P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus alloplectus S.T.Blake[3] Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng.[3] Plectranthus amicorum S.T.Blake[3] Plectranthus amoenus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus apreptus S.T.Blake[3] Plectranthus apricus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus arenicola P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus argentatus S.T.Blake[3] Plectranthus barbatus Plectranthus blakei P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus cataractarum B.J.Pollard Plectranthus caninus Roth[3] Plectranthus ciliatus E.Mey.[3] Plectranthus congestus R.Br.[3] Plectranthus cremnus B.J.Conn[3] Plectranthus cyanophyllus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus diversus S.T.Blake[3] Plectranthus dissitiflorus (Guerke) J.K.Morton Plectranthus dumicola P.I.Forst[3] Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew Plectranthus esculentus N.E.Br. Plectranthus excelsus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus fasciculatus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus foetidus Benth.[3] Plectranthus fruticosus L'Hér. Plectranthus glabriflorus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus graniticola P.I.Forst.[3]

Plectranthus gratus S.T.Blake[3] Plectranthus graveolens R.Br.[3] Plectranthus habrophyllus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus intraterraneus S.T.Blake[3] Plectranthus leiperi P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus longipes[4] Plectranthus madagascariensis Plectranthus megadontus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus minutus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus mirus S.T.Blake[3] Plectranthus neochilus Schltr.[3] Plectranthus nitidus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus omissus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus ornatus Codd[3] Plectranthus parviflorus Willd.[3] Plectranthus pulchellus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus rotundifolius (Poir.) Spreng. Plectranthus scutellarioides (L.) R.Br.[3] Plectranthus socotranus Radcl.-Sm. Plectranthus spectabilis S.T.Blake C[3] Plectranthus suaveolens S.T.Blake C[3] Plectranthus thalassoscopicus P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus ternatus Plectranthus tomentosa Plectranthus torrenticola P.I.Forst.[3] Plectranthus unguentarius Codd Plectranthus venteri Plectranthus verticillatus (L.f.) Druce[3] Plectranthus welwitschii (Briq.) Codd

Formerly described as Plectranthus

• Anisochilus carnosus (L. f.) Wall. ex Benth. (as P. strobilifer Roxb.)
• Isodon coetsa (Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don) Kudô (as P. coetsa Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don)
• Isodon inflexus (Thunb.) Kudô (as P. inflexus (Thunb.) Vahl ex Benth.)
• Isodon lophanthoides (Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don) H.Hara (as P. striatus Benth.)
• Isodon rugosus (Wall. ex Benth.) Codd (as P. rugosus Wall. ex Benth.)
• Isodon sculponeatus (Vaniot) Kudô (as P. sculponeatus Vaniot)^[5]

Image gallery

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  Plectranthus amboinicus

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  Plectranthus neochilus

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  Plectranthus parviflorus

References

1. "Genus: Plectranthus L'Hér.". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
2. Catherine W. Lukhobaa, Monique S.J. Simmonds, and Alan J. Paton (3 January 2006). "Plectranthus: A review of ethnobotanical uses". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 103 (1): 1–24. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2005.09.011. PMID 16289602.
3. "Plectranthus". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
4. Bussmann R. W.; et al. (2006). "Plant use of the Maasai of Sekenani Valley, Maasai Mara, Kenya". J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2: 22. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-2-22. PMC 1475560. PMID 16674830.
5. "GRIN Species Records of Plectranthus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2011-02-17.

External links

• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne
• EcoPort on P. rotundifolius
• PROTAbase on P. rotundifolius synonym for Solenostemon rotundifolius
• EcoPort on P. esculentus (with tuber photo)
• Lamiales Newsletter on P. esculentus
• Little-known African Tubers (discusses P. rotundifolius and P. esculentus)