Flora of New Zealand Series

Annual or perennial herbs, sometimes shrubby, sometimes ± succulent, not rhizomatous. Lvs simple, usually toothed. Infl. cymose, paniculate or racemose, lax or subspicate. Bracts small, distinct from lvs. Calyx subequally 5-toothed or 2-lipped, 10-nerved; upper lip larger; tube often gibbous towards base and villous within. Corolla 2-lipped, usually with some hairs outside; tube usually bent; upper lip often 4-lobed, < lower lip; lower lip entire, boat-shaped. Stamens usually 4, very rarely 2, attached at mouth of corolla tube, declinate in lower lip of corolla, 1-celled; filaments free or united at base. Style lying with stamens in lower lip of corolla, gynobasic, its branches subequal. Nutlets ovoid or oblong, smooth or granular.

c. 250 spp., Old World tropics. Naturalised spp. 3.

P. scutellarioides (L.) R. Br. (Coleus blumei Benth.) is abundantly cultivated in N.Z. inside houses, conservatories and glasshouses, as well as outside in frost-free areas, but is not naturalised. In subtropical and tropical regions, including islands north of N.Z., this is the only sp. likely to be wild.