Publication: Handb. Fl. Ceylon 6(Suppl.): 236 1931
Origin and Habitat
India
Cultivation and Propagation
Plectranthus coleoides Bentham is not generally cultivated.
From llifle page Plectranthus coleoides
Description
Plectranthus coleoides is an herbaceous subshrub up to 2 m tall which is synonym of Plectranthus glabratus and is not generally cultivated.
Remarks: Beware that the common variegate plant found in cultivation as Plectranthus coleoides ‘Marginatus’ is indeed a completely different species: Plectranthus forsteri that should not be confused with it.
Stem: 30-60 cm tall erect obscurely 4 angled green spotted with purple pubescent above, as are the petioles, leaves beneath and inflorescence.
Leaves: Orbicular, ovate to cordiform, obtuse, doubly crenate, rugose above, 4-12 cm long, 3-14 cm wide, lurid green.
Inflorescences (cymes): Decussate, 3-9 flowered, erect subcylindric, peduncle 7-30 cm long. Peduncles and pedicels purplish. Flowering calyx small pubescent, lobes 1 + 4, very unequal, upper broadest and curved, the rest triangular subulate. Corolla 8 mm in diameter, violet. Tube much compressed, suddenly bent down. Upper lip short, broad, reflexed, 4 lobed, ciliate. Lower lip pendulous, boat shaped, bearded within. Stamens free, included in the lower lip.
Bibliography
Major references and further lectures
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Sir William Jackson Hooker, David Prain, Otto Stapf “Curtis’s Botanical Magazine” Volume 96 Academic Press, 1870
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K. M. Matthew “An Excursion Flora of Central Tamilnadu, India” CRC Press, 01/Jun/1995
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James Cullen, Sabina G. Knees, H. Suzanne Cubey “The European Garden Flora Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass” Cambridge University Press, 11/Aug/2011
Source: Plectranthus coleoides, LLIFLE - Encyclopedia of living forms, CC-BY-SA, retrieved 2026-10-26.