Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Lamiales Bromhead
Family
Labiatae Juss.
Genus
Coleus Lour.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Coleus australis (R.Br.) A.J.Paton in Paton et al., PhytoKeys 129: 21-22 (2019)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Plectranthus australis R.Br.
  • = Plectranthus parviflorus Willd. (1806)
 Description

Perennial herb, mildly aromatic when bruised; stems ± erect to decumbent, ascending to c. 1 m, dying down almost to the tuberous base after flowering; indumentum of scattered sessile orange glands and ± copious, but not dense, colourless glandular and eglandular hairs, these being mainly retrorse lower down but often spreading towards inflorescence. Petioles to 4 cm long, hairy, broadly channelled above; lamina 3-8 × 2-7 cm, broadly ovate, membranous, ± scabridulous above, puberulent (especially on the veins) and with sessile orange glands beneath, green on both surfaces; margins with up to 10 pairs of prominent rounded or obtuse teeth; base truncate or very broadly cuneate. Inflorescence a terminal, narrow, indeterminate thyrse with 1 or few axes; inflorescence axes 7- 15 cm long, elongating to nearly 40 cm at fruiting; internodes glandular-puberulent and with sessile orange glands; flowers 8-20 per whorl, the lower whorls distant. Bracts broadly ovate, caducous. Calyx strongly 2-lipped; lower lip with 4, triangular, subequal teeth; upper lip suborbicular, mucronate; indumentum of mostly simple hairs and sessile orange glands; fruiting calyx with prominent raised vein net. Corolla 8-11 mm long to apex of lower lip, slightly hairy and glandular outside; tube horizontal or declined, whitish; upper lip 2.4-4 mm long, curving upwards and reflexing, violet except for whitish central band on each lobe; lower lip 4 - 5.5 mm long, naviculate, pale blue or mauve-blue. Stamens lying in lower lip; anthers dark blue; filaments pale bluish. Style included, almost equals longest stamens. Pedicels recurved at fruiting. Nutlets 0.8-1 mm diam., smooth, glossy dark brown, slightly angular or sub-lenticular, or ± rounded. Flowering: January to May.

[Reproduced from Sykes & de Lange (1993, New Zealand J. Bot. 31: 11–14) with permission from The Royal Society of New Zealand. as Plectranthus parviflorus Willd.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Non-endemic)
 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [as Plectranthus parviflorus Willd.] [Coloniser]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76. [as Plectranthus parviflorus Willd.]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [as Plectranthus parviflorus Willd.] [Coloniser]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [as Plectranthus parviflorus Willd.] [Coloniser]
Paton, A.J.; Mwanyambo, M.; Govaerts, R.H.A.; Smitha, K.; Suddee, S.; Phillipson, P.B.; Wilson, T.C.; Forster, P.I.; Culham, A. 2019: Nomenclatural changes in Coleus and Plectranthus (Lamiaceae): a tale of more than two genera. PhytoKeys 129: 1–158.
Sykes, W.R.; de Lange, P. J. 1993: Plectranthus parviflorus Willd. (Lamiaceae) in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 31: 11–14. [as Plectranthus parviflorus Willd.]