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Plectranthus oertendahlii
Also called Candleplant, Silverleaf Spurflower, Silvervein Spurflower, Swedish Ivy
Brazilian coleus is a creeping, tender forest-dwelling perennial from South Africa, grown mainly for its silver-veined, purple-backed leaves. Keep it in bright indirect light and moist soil, and protect it from cold.
Plectranthus oertendahlii is a species of flowering plant in the sage and mint family, Lamiaceae. Common names include silverleaf spurflower, Swedish ivy, Oertendahl's spurflower, November lights and Brazilian coleus, though it is native to eastern South Africa rather than Brazil. Plectranthus oertendahlii and the cultivar 'Uvongo' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
P. oertendahlii is named for Ivan Anders Oertendahl of Sweden's Uppsala University. Nobody knows how the plant reached Sweden, but it has been cultivated in Scandinavia for over a century, and remains popular there. It increases both by setting seed and by putting down roots as it spreads along the ground.
This plant and its cultivars are widely grown as ornamentals, often under its former name Coleus. In temperate climates it is grown as a houseplant, as it does not tolerate temperatures below 5 °C (41 °F). However, plants may be placed outside in a warm shaded area during the summer months.
Pincushion Spurflower · Speckled spur flower · Ecklon Spurflower · Forest Spurflower · Plectranthus hadiensis · Cliff Spurflower · Stoep Jacaranda · Dwarf Spurflower · Whorled plectranthus · Spurflowers
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Plectranthus oertendahlii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
