Plectranthus


Plectranthus, with some 72 species, is a genus of perennial, rarely annual herbs or soft-wooded shrubs, sometimes succulent; sometimes with a tuberous base. Plectranthus species are found in Southern and Tropical Africa and Madagascar, and one in Sri Lanka. Several species are grown as ornamental plants, as leaf vegetables, as root vegetables for their edible tubers, or as medicine.
Plectranthus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the engrailed.
Recent phylogenetic analysis found Plectranthus to be paraphyletic with respect to Coleus, 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.

Species

Paton et al. list 72 species:
Species transferred to Coleus in 2019 include: