''Plectranthus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family,

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

s, rarely annuals or soft-wooded shrubs, sometimes

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

; sometimes with a tuberous base. Several species are grown as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

s. The

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

= 'Plepalila' has received the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. Recent phylogenetic analysis found ''Plectranthus'' to be

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

with respect to ''

Coleus ''Coleus'' is a genus of annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, sometimes succulent, sometimes with a fleshy or tuberous rootstock, found in the Old World tropics and subtropics. The relationship among the genera ''Coleus'', '' Solenostemon'' and ...

'', ''Solenostemon'', ''Pycnostachys'' and ''Anisochilus''. The most recent treatment of the genus resurrected the genus ''Coleus'', and 212 names were changed from combinations in ''Plectranthus'', ''Pycnostachys'' and ''Anisochilus''. ''Equilabium'' was segregated from ''Plectranthus'', after phylogenetic studies supported its recognition as a phylogenetically distinct genus.

Etymology

The word ''plectranthus'' derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

πλῆκτρον (''plēktron''), "anything to strike with, an instrument for striking the lyre, a spear point" + ἄνθος (''anthos''), "blossom, flower".ἄνθος
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus

Species

Paton et al. (2019) listed 72 species. ,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

accepted 84: *''

Plectranthus alboviolaceus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennia ...

'' Gürke – South Africa: E. Cape Prov. to N. KwaZulu-Natal *''

Plectranthus ambiguus ''Plectranthus ambiguus'', the pincushion spurflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to South Africa. Its cultivar 'Manguzuku' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Flowers are pink ...

'' (Bolus) Codd – South Africa: E. Cape Prov. to N. KwaZulu-Natal *'' Plectranthus amplexicaulis'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus antongilicus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus asymmetricus'' A.J.Paton – Zambia *''

Plectranthus atroviolaceus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennial ...

'' Hedge – Madagascar *''

Plectranthus aulihanensis ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennial ...

'' (Schweinf. & Volkens) ined. *''

Plectranthus betamponus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennia ...

'' Hedge – Madagascar *''

Plectranthus bracteolatus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennia ...

'' A.J.Paton – Tanzania *''

Plectranthus brevicaulis ''Plectranthus'' is a genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and ...

'' (Baker) Hedge – Madagascar *''

Plectranthus brevimentus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennia ...

'' T.J.Edwards (also as ''P. brevimentum'') – South Africa: Eastern Cape Prov *''

Plectranthus canescens ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennia ...

'' Benth. – Madagascar *''

Plectranthus capuronii ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennia ...

'' Hedge – Madagascar *''

Plectranthus chimanimanensis ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennia ...

'' S.Moore – E. Zimbabwe to W. Mozambique *'' Plectranthus ciliatus'' E.Mey. – South Africa and Swaziland *'' Plectranthus clementiae'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus cordatus'' A.J.Paton & Phillipson – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus decaryi'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus delicatissimus'' Hedge – Madagascar *''

Plectranthus ecklonii ''Plectranthus ecklonii'', commonly known as tall spurflower and Ecklon spurflower, is a shrub from the mint family Lamiaceae, native to South Africa. The habitat includes forest or shaded situations near the coast. Description Native to the Eas ...

'' Benth. – South Africa *'' Plectranthus elegans'' Britten – S. Malawi *'' Plectranthus elegantulus'' Briq. – South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal *'' Plectranthus ellipticus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus emirnensis'' (Baker) Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus ernstii'' Codd – South Africa: E. Cape Prov. to S. KwaZulu-Natal *'' Plectranthus forsythii'' Hedge – Madagascar *''

Plectranthus fruticosus ''Plectranthus fruticosus'', the forest spurflower, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to South Africa. Growing up to tall, it is an erect evergreen shrub, with rounded, hairy leaves, and spikes of soft blue or ...

'' L’Hér. – S. Mozambique to South Africa *'' Plectranthus gardneri'' Thwaites – Sri Lanka *'' Plectranthus gibbosus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus godefroyae'' (N.E.Br.) ined. *'' Plectranthus grallatus'' Briq. – South Africa, Lesotho *''

Plectranthus grandibracteatus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennial ...

'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus guruensis'' A.J.Paton – Mozambique *'' Plectranthus hexaphyllus'' Baker – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus hilliardiae'' Codd – South Africa: Transkei to KwaZulu-Natal *'' Plectranthus hirsutus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus hoslundioides'' Scott-Elliot – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus humbertii'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus incrassatus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus laurifolius'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus linearis'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus longiflorus'' Benth. – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus longipetiolatus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus lucidus'' (Benth.) van Jaarsv. & T.J.Edwards – South Africa: S. Cape Prov *'' Plectranthus macilentus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus malvinus'' van Jaarsv. & T.J.Edwards – South Africa: E. Cape Prov *'' Plectranthus mandalensis'' Baker – Malawi (Mt. Mulanje), Mozambique (Mt. Namuli) *'' Plectranthus marquesii'' Gürke *'' Plectranthus mechowianus'' (Briq.) ined. *'' Plectranthus membranaceus'' (Scott-Elliot) Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus miserabilis'' Briq. *'' Plectranthus mocquerysii'' Briq. – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus mzimvubuensis'' van Jaarsv. – South Africa: SE. Cape Prov *'' Plectranthus oblanceolatus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus oertendahlii'' T.C.E.Fr. – South Africa: S. KwaZulu-Natal *''

Plectranthus ombrophilus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennial ...

'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus oribiensis'' Codd – South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal *'' Plectranthus papilionaceus'' Ranir. & Phillipson – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus parvifolius'' Talbot *'' Plectranthus pichompae'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus poggeanus'' (Briq.) ined. *''

Plectranthus praetermissus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennial ...

'' Codd – South Africa: SE. Cape Prov *'' Plectranthus preussii'' (Gürke) ined. *'' Plectranthus purpuratus'' Harv. – South Africa *'' Plectranthus reflexus'' van Jaarsv. & T.J.Edwards – South Africa: SE. Cape Prov *'' Plectranthus rosulatus'' Hedge – NW. Madagascar *'' Plectranthus rubropunctatus'' Codd – South Africa: Limpopo to Swaziland *''

Plectranthus rubroviolaceus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennial ...

'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus saccatus'' Benth. – South Africa: SE. Cape Prov. to KwaZulu-Natal *'' Plectranthus scaposus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus schweinfurthii'' Sprenger *'' Plectranthus secundiflorus'' (Baker) Hedge – Tanzania (Uluguru Mts.) *'' Plectranthus strangulatus'' A.J.Paton – Tanzania (Uluguru Mts.) *'' Plectranthus strigosus'' Benth. ex E.Mey. – South Africa: S. Cape Prov *'' Plectranthus stylesii'' T.J.Edwards – South Africa: Eastern Cape Prov *'' Plectranthus swynnertonii'' S.Moore – S. Trop. Africa to South Africa, Mpumalanga *'' Plectranthus termiticola'' A.J.Paton *'' Plectranthus trilobus'' Hedge – Madagascar *''

Plectranthus verticillatus ''Plectranthus verticillatus'' (Synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Plectranthus nummularius''), Swedish ivy, Swedish begonia or whorled plectranthus is a plant in the family Lamiaceae (Labiatae), genus ''Plectranthus''. Despite its common name, it is not ...

'' (L.f.) Druce – S. Mozambique to South Africa *'' Plectranthus vestitus'' Benth. – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus vinaceus'' Hedge – Madagascar *'' Plectranthus viridis'' (Briq.) ined. *'' Plectranthus zenkeri'' Gürke *'' Plectranthus zuluensis'' T.Cooke – South Africa: SE. Cape Prov. to Swaziland

Transferred to ''Coleus''

Species transferred to ''

'' in 2019 include: *''Plectranthus amboinicus'' (Lour.) Spreng. → ''

Coleus amboinicus ''Coleus amboinicus'', synonym ''Plectranthus amboinicus'', is a semi-succulent perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae with a pungent oregano-like flavor and odor. ''Coleus amboinicus'' is considered to be native to parts of Africa, the Arabian ...

'' *''Plectranthus argentatus'' S.T.Blake → ''

Coleus argentatus ''Coleus argentatus'', synonym ''Plectranthus argentatus'', common name silver spurflower, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family. It is native to rock outcrops and rainforest in the border region of Queensland and New South Wales, Au ...

'' *''Plectranthus barbatus'' Andrews → ''

Coleus barbatus ''Coleus barbatus'', also known by the synonyms ''Plectranthus barbatus'' and incorrectly ''Coleus forskalaei'' (and other spellings of this epithet), is a tropical perennial plant related to the typical coleus species. It produces forskolin, an ...

'' *''Plectranthus caninus'' Roth → ''

Coleus caninus ''Coleus caninus'', synonym ''Plectranthus caninus'', is a herb from the mint family Lamiaceae, native to southern and eastern Africa from Angola to Sudan and to India and Myanmar. A plant sold under the name "''Coleus canina''" or "scaredy cat ...

'' *''Plectranthus cataractarum'' B.J.Pollard → '' Coleus cataractarum'' *''Plectranthus cremnus'' B.J.Conn → '' Coleus cremnus'' *''Plectranthus dissitiflorus'' (Guerke) J.K.Morton → '' Coleus dissitiflorus'' *''Plectranthus edulis'' (Vatke) Agnew → ''Coleus maculosus'' subsp. ''edulis'' *''Plectranthus esculentus'' N.E.Br. → '' Coleus esculentus'' *''Plectranthus graveolens'' R.Br. → ''

Coleus graveolens ''Coleus graveolens'', synonym ''Plectranthus graveolens'', is a shrub in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country co ...

'' *''Plectranthus hadiensis'' (Forssk.) Schweinf. ex Sprenger → ''

Coleus hadiensis ''Coleus'' is a genus of annual or perennial herbs or shrubs, sometimes succulent, sometimes with a fleshy or tuberous rootstock, found in the Old World tropics and subtropics. The relationship among the genera ''Coleus'', ''Solenostemon'' and ...

'' *''Plectranthus neochilus'' Schltr. → '' Coleus neochilus'' *''Plectranthus ornatus'' Codd → ''

Coleus comosus ''Coleus comosus'', synonym ''Plectranthus ornatus'', is a flowering plant from the mint family Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plant ...

'' *''Plectranthus parviflorus'' Willd. → '' Coleus australis'' *''Plectranthus rotundifolius'' (Poir.) Spreng. → ''

Coleus rotundifolius ''Coleus rotundifolius'', synonyms ''Plectranthus rotundifolius'' and ''Solenostemon rotundifolius'', commonly known as native or country potato in Africa and called Chinese potato in India, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the mint family ( ...

'' *''Plectranthus scutellarioides'' (L.) R.Br. → ''

Coleus scutellarioides ''Coleus scutellarioides'', commonly known as coleus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae (the mint or deadnettle family), native to southeast Asia through to Australia. Typically growing to tall and wide, it is a bushy, wood ...

'' *''Plectranthus socotranus'' Radcl.-Sm. → '' Coleus socotranus'' *''Plectranthus unguentarius'' Codd → '' Coleus unguentarius'' *''Plectranthus welwitschii'' (Briq.) Codd → '' Coleus fredericii''

Other species formerly placed in ''Plectranthus''

*'' Anisochilus carnosus'' (L. f.) Wall. ex Benth. (as ''P. strobilifer'' Roxb.) *'' Capitanopsis oreophila'' (Hedge) Mwany., A.J.Paton & Culham (as ''P. bipinnatus'' A.J.Paton) *''

Isodon coetsa ''Isodon'' is a group of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae described as a genus in 1840. It is native to tropical and subtropical parts of the Old World, primarily Asia but two species are from Africa. Many of the species are endemic to ...

'' (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)

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1862564 Lamiaceae genera Root vegetables Leaf vegetables