Plectranthus
(from plectron, a spur, and anthos, a flower; in allusion to the corolla-tube being gibbous at base). Cockspur-flower. SYN. Germanea. ORD. Labiatae. This genus comprises nearly seventy species of stove or greenhouse, perennial herbs, sub-shrubs, or rarely tall shrubs, natives of tropical and South Africa, tropical and sub-tropical Asia as far as Japan, the Malayan Archipelago, Australia, and the Pacific Islands. Flowers small or mediocre, often pedicellate; calyx of five equal or bilabiate teeth; corolla tube exserted, gibbous or oblique; limb bilabiate, the upper lobe three or four-fid, the lower one entire; whorls six to many-flowered, or cymes opposite and more or less evolute, racemose, thyrsoid, or loosely paniculate, rarely densely spicate. Nutlets ovoid or oblong, smooth or minutely dotted. Leaves variable, the floral ones reduced to small, deciduous bracts. The species best known to cultivation are described below. They do well in any light, rich soil. Propagation may be effected by cuttings, which root readily. P. australis (Southern). fl. pale purple, on short, unequal pedicels; corolla almost thrice as long as the calyx; whorls rather loose, about ten-flowered, and 1/2in. apart; raceme elongated, simple. Summer. l. petiolate, broadly ovate, obtuse, inciso-crenate, rounded at base, slightly rugose, pubescent; floral ones round-ovate, deciduous. Stem herbaceous, erect, pubescent. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Australia. Greenhouse. (B. R. 1098.) P. barbatus (bearded). A synonym of Coleus barbatus. P. coleoides (Coleus-like). fl. lilac; corolla four times as long as the calyx; panicle thyrsoid, 6in. long. Summer. l. petiolate, ovate, crenate, sub-cordate at base, rather thick, puberulous; floral ones deciduous. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Neilgherries, 1865. Stove herbaceous perennial. (B. M. 5841.) SYN. Coleus Colvillei.
P. comosus (tufted). A synonym of Coleus barbatus.
P. faetidus (stinking). fl. purple (?); calyx softly villous; corolla thrice as long as the calyx; whorls many-flowered, approximate; racemes dense, slightly branched. Summer. l. shortly petiolate, broadly ovate, crenate, truncate or cordate at base, thick, much wrinkled, very villous on both sides; floral ones broadly ovate-cordate, acuminate, deciduous. Stem obtusely tetragonal. h. 3ft. to 5ft. Eastern Australia, 1877. Greenhouse sub-shrub. (B. M. 6792.) P. Forskolei (Forskal's. A synonym of Coleus barbatus. P. fruticosus (shrubby). fl. blue, elegant, disposed in a slightly-branched panicle; pedicels 1/2in. long; corolla tube twice as long as the calyx. Summer. l. petiolate, broadly ovate, sub-cordate, doubly toothed, slightly glabrous; floral ones bract-like. h. 3ft. to 4ft. Cape Colony. Greenhouse shrub. See Fig. 200. (R. G. 1864, 431.) P. ternatus (ternate). Onime-root. fl. purple, on short pedicels; corolla dark-dotted, thrice as long as the calyx; whorls ternate, rather loose, many-flowered; racemes simple. August. l. long-stalked, ovate-rotundate, acute, deeply crenate, narrowed at base, some fleshy, pubescent above, canescent beneath. Stem erect; branches cano-tomentose or pubescent. h. 1ft. Madagascar, 1821. Stove herbaceous perennial. (B. M. 2460.)