Coleus amboinicus is a species of semi-succulent perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. It has a pungent oregano-like flavor and odor. Coleus amboinicus is considered to be native to parts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India, although it is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere in the tropics where it is used as a spice and ornamental plant. Common names in English include Indian borage, country borage, French thyme, Indian mint, Mexican mint, Cuban oregano, broad leaf thyme, soup mint, Spanish thyme.
The species epithet, amboinicus refers to Ambon Island, in Indonesia. In 1747, 45 years after his death, a volume written by Georg Eberhard Rumphius was published, including the plants he called Marrubium album Amboinicum, with the local name Daun hati hati. He had encountered them in Ambon and the Banda Islands, both cultivated in gardens and growing wild. In 1790, the Linnaean name Coleus amboinicus was published by João de Loureiro (1717–1791) who had encountered the plants in Cochinchina and parts of India.
Description
A member of the mint family Lamiaceae, Coleus amboinicus grows up to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall. The stem is fleshy, about 30–90 cm (12–35 in), either with long rigid hairs (hispidly villous) or densely covered with soft, short and erect hairs (tomentose). Old stems are smooth (glabrescent).
Leaves are 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) by 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in), fleshy, undivided (simple), broad, egg/oval-shaped with a tapering tip (ovate). The margins are coarsely crenate to dentate-crenate except at 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 2–4.5 cm (0.79–1.77 in). The aroma of the leaves can be described as a pungent combination of the aromas of oregano, thyme, and turpentine. The taste of the leaves is described as being similar to the one of oregano, but with a...
