Coleus barbatus

Native from eastern Africa through the Arabian Peninsula and Indian subcontinent to south-central China, it is an aromatic perennial shrub with somewhat fleshy leaves and soft, brittle stems. Its branching stems are roughly square in cross-section and may creep along the ground at the base. Opposite, oval leaves have toothed or scalloped edges and surfaces covered with soft hairs. Blue to purple flowers grow in separated whorls along an upright flowering stalk. Each flower has a short upper lip and a much longer, hood-shaped lower lip that encloses the stamens. The small brown to black nutlets develop a mucilaginous coating when wet. In its native range, the plant grows on rocky outcrops and cliffs. It has naturalized in South Africa. Photographed in Ecuador.