Coleus rotundifolius (Poir.) A. Chev. & Perrot

Meerts, Pierre J. & Paton, Alan J., 2024, The genus Coleus (Lamiaceae) in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi), with the description of 15 new species, PhytoKeys 246, pp. 71-178 : 71-178

Coleus rotundifolius (Poir.) A. Chev. & Perrot , Veg. Ut. Afr. Trop. Franç. 1: 101. 1905.

≡ Germanea rotundifolia Poir. in J. B. A. M. de Lamarck, Encycl. 2: 763. 1788.

≡ Plectranthus rotundifolius (Poir.) Spreng. , Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 2: 690 (1825). Type: Mauritius (“ Isle de France ”), P. Commerson s. n. (holotype P [P 00152706]; isotype FI).

Description.

Paton et al. (2009: 330); Paton et al. (2013: 269), as Plectranthus rotundifolius (Poir.) Spreng.

Habitat and ecology.

Fallow field; ca. 400 m; in Africa, always in cultivation or as a relic of old cultivation.

Additional specimens.

DR. Congo, Bas-Congo, Kasangulu, 22 Apr 1960, P. Compère 1991 ( BR).

Rwanda, Nyabarsingo, Simpson s. n. ( TCD, not seen, cited in Suddee et al. 2004).

Notes.

1. New species record for DR. Congo.

2. This species belongs in the difficult group of C. bojeri - C. welwitschii , in which identification requires carefully collected underground organs. The collecting notes on the label of P. Compère 1991 mention the presence of tubers, but these have not been collected. Apart from tubers, the species differs from C. bojeri in having somewhat thicker and more pubescent leaves.

3. See note under C. welwitschii .