Coleus amboinicus

Coleus amboinicus, synonym Plectranthus amboinicus,<ref name=PatoMwanGovaSmit19/> is a semi-succulent perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae<ref name="cabi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with a pungent oregano-like flavor and odor. Coleus amboinicus is considered to be native to parts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India,<ref name="POWO_445902-1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> although it is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere in the tropics where it is used as a spice and ornamental plant.<ref name=cabi/> Common names in English include Indian borage, country borage, French thyme, Indian mint, Mexican mint, Cuban oregano, broad leaf thyme, soup mint, Spanish thyme.<ref name=cabi/> The species epithet, amboinicus refers to Ambon Island, in Indonesia, where it was apparently encountered and described by João de Loureiro (1717–1791).<ref>https://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?cat_id=14&plant_id=3810&page=9, accessed 23 May 2020</ref>Template:Full citation needed

Description

A member of the mint family Lamiaceae,<ref name=cabi/> Coleus amboinicus grows up to Template:Convert tall. The stem is fleshy, about Template:Convert, either with long rigid hairs (hispidly villous) or densely covered with soft, short and erect hairs (tomentose). Old stems are smooth (glabrescent).

Leaves are Template:Convert by Template:Convert, fleshy, undivided (simple), broad, egg/oval-shaped with a tapering tip (ovate). The margins are coarsely crenate to dentate-crenate except in the base. They are thickly studded with hairs (pubescent), with the lower surface possessing the most numerous glandular hairs, giving a frosted appearance. The petiole is Template:Convert. The aroma of the leaves can be described as a pungent combination of the aromas of oregano, thyme, and turpentine.<ref name="Ernest Small 1997, p. 488">Culinary herbs, by Ernest Small, National Research Council of Canada NRC Research Press, 1997, p. 488.</ref> The taste of the leaves is described as being similar to the one of oregano, but with a sharp mint-like flavor.<ref>Florida's Best Herbs and Spices: Native and Exotic Plants Grown for Scent and Flavor, by Charles R. Boning, Pineapple Press Inc, 2010 p. 75.</ref>

Flowers are on a short stem (shortly pedicelled), pale purplish, in dense 10-20 (or more) flowered dense whorls (cymes), at distant intervals, in a long slender spike-like raceme. Rachis Template:Convert, fleshy and pubescent. The bracts are broadly ovate, Template:Convert long, acute. The calyx is campanulate, Template:Convert long, hirsute and glandular, subequally 5-toothed, upper tooth broadly ovate-oblong, obtuse, abruptly acute, lateral and lower teeth acute. Corolla blue, curved and declinate, Template:Convert long, tube Template:Convert long. Trumpet-like widened; limb 2-lipped, upper lip short, erect, puberulent, lower lip long, concave. Filaments are fused below into a tube around the style.

The seeds (nutlets) are smooth, pale-brown, roundish flattened, c. Template:Convert.<ref>Flora Malesiana, Vol. 8, by Steenis, C. G. G. J. van (Cornelis Gijsbert Gerrit Jan); Steenis-Kruseman, M. J. van; Indonesia. Department Pertanian; Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia; Kebun Raya Indonesia, Publication date 1950, p. 387. Available on https://archive.org/details/floramalesiana83stee.</ref>

Distribution and habitat

Coleus amboinicus is native to Southern and Eastern Africa, (from South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal) and Eswatini to Angola and Mozambique and north to Kenya and Tanzania) the Arabian Peninsula and India, where it grows in woodland or coastal bush, on rocky slopes and loamy or sandy flats at low elevations.<ref name="biodiversitylibrary.org">Codd, L. E. W. et al. Flora of Southern Africa : the Republic of South Africa, Basutoland, Swaziland and South West Africa. Vol. 28, part 4, 1981, page 148. Available on Biodiversity Heritage Library at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51375271.</ref><ref>Flora Malesiana, Vol. 8, by Steenis, C. G. G. J. van (Cornelis Gijsbert Gerrit Jan); Steenis-Kruseman, M. J. van; Indonesia. Departemen Pertanian; Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia; Kebun Raya Indonesia, Publication date 1950, p. 387. Available on https://archive.org/details/floramalesiana83stee.</ref><ref name=GRIN>Template:GRIN</ref> The plant was later brought to Europe, and then from Spain to the Americas, hence the name Spanish thyme.<ref name="biodiversitylibrary.org"/><ref name="books.google.lk">Template:Cite book</ref>

Research

In basic research, the effects of the essential oil were tested with other plant essential oils for possible use as a mosquito repellant.<ref name=cabi/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Uses

The leaves are strongly flavored.<ref name=GRIN /> The herb is used as a substitute for oregano to mask the strong odors and flavors of fish, mutton, and goat.<ref>The Herbalist in the Kitchen, by Gary Allen, University of Illinois Press, 2010, p. 198</ref> It may be batter-fried to make pakodas or rasam.Template:Cn In the Caribbean, leaves are commonly used when seasoning meats for its pungent aroma.<ref name=cabi/>

Fresh leaves are used to scent laundry and hair.<ref name=cabi/> It is also grown as an ornamental plant.<ref name=cabi/>

File:Variegated Cuban Oregano (Plectranthus amboinicus 'Variegatus') 1.jpg

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Phytochemicals

The main chemical compounds found in the essential oil of Coleus amboinicus are carvacrol (28.65%), thymol (21.66%), α-humulene (9.67%), undecanal (8.29%), γ-terpinene (7.76%), p-cymene (6.46%), caryophyllene oxide (5.85%), α-terpineol (3.28%), and β-selinene (2.01%).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Another analysis obtained thymol (41.3%), carvacrol (13.25%), 1,8-cineole (5.45%), eugenol (4.40%), caryophyllene (4.20%), terpinolene (3.75%), α-pinene (3.20%), β-pinene (2.50%), methyl eugenol (2.10%), and β-phellandrene (1.90%). The variations can be attributed to the methodology used in the extraction process, seasonal variations, soil type, climate, genetic and geographical variations of the plant.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Cultivation

Coleus amboinicus is a fast-growing plant commonly grown in gardens and indoors in pots. Propagation is by stem cuttings, but it can also be grown from seeds. In dry climates the herb grows easily in a well-drained, semi-shaded position. It is frost tender (USDA hardiness zones 10–11)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and grows well in subtropical and tropical locations, but will do well in cooler climates if grown in a pot and brought indoors, or moved to a warm, sheltered position in winter. In Hawaii and other humid tropical locations, the plant requires full sun.<ref name="Ernest Small 1997, p. 488"/> It can be harvested throughout the growing season to be used fresh, dried, or frozen.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Common names

• Cuban oregano<ref name="Gary Allen 2010">Gary Allen, The Herbalist in the Kitchen, University of Illinois Press, 2010, p. 198.</ref>
• Country borage<ref name="GRIN" /><ref name="tropicos">Tropicos, http://www.tropicos.org/Name/17602719, accessed 21 August 2012</ref>
• French thyme<ref name="GRIN" />
• Indian borage<ref name="GRIN" />
• Mexican mint (US,<ref name="tropicos" /> preferred common name<ref name="eol">Encyclopedia of Life, https://eol.org/pages/50437093/names, accessed 23 May 2024</ref>)
• Oregano brujo (witch oregano) in Puerto Rico<ref name="GRIN" />
• Soup mint<ref name="GRIN" />
• Spanish thyme<ref name="tropicos" />
• Thick leaf thyme or broad leaf thyme<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Gallery

• A closeup of Indian Borage (Oregano).JPG

  Indian borage

• Flower of Coleus aromaticus.jpg

  Flowers

• Panikkoorkka poov.JPG

  Flower

• Plectranthus amboinicus flowers.jpg

  Flowers

• Cuban Oregano Flowers.png

  Flowers

See also

• Hedeoma patens, Spanish common name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('small oregano')
• Lippia graveolens, Mexican oregano or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ('wild oregano')