Plectranthus ciliatus
NPPA pest plant
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
plectranthus
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Violet/Purple, White
Detailed description
Herb or subshrub with stems trailing or straggling and densely covered in purple hairs; leaves 5-12 x 3.5-7cm, broad-ovate, shining, purple below, hairy; flowers along stalks up to 30cm long, sometimes with short lateral branches at base; flowers white with purple dots inside; nutlets about 1.5mm diameter, dark brown (Webb et al., 1988).
Similar taxa
Leaves are dotted with glands and have a strong, pungent smell.
Habitat
Terrestrial. A plant that grows in the shade (Forester pers. comm. 1996). Likes some shade and well-drained soils (Anon., 1997: Pestfacts 48, ARC). A plant of forested stream banks (Forester pers. comm. 1996). Shady areas in and around forest margins, plantations, hedges, disturbed or low forest (Webb et al., 1988).
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Lamiaceae
Ecology
Flowering
December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August
Year naturalised
1975
Origin
E and S Africa
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
Resistant to frost (if growing under trees).
Life cycle
Perennial. A plant that rampantly grows vegetatively. Spreads vegetatively by runners. Seed are not adapted for bird, wind or water dispersal therefore are only a minor factor in its spread.
Other information
Etymology
plectranthus: From the Greek plektron (spur) and anthos (flower), referring to the spurred flowers
National Pest Plant Accord species
This plant is listed in the 2020 National Pest Plant Accord. The National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) is an agreement to prevent the sale and/or distribution of specified pest plants where either formal or casual horticultural trade is the most significant way of spreading the plant in New Zealand. For up to date information and an electronic copy of the 2020 Pest Plant Accord manual (including plant information and images) visit the MPI website.
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
PLECIL