From page 15
long and 47mm wide ( but smaller in the wild ), light green above and grey-green below . The flowers , borne in a terminal spike-like raceme between 200-300mm long - appear between March and September and are deep blue or mauve . The individual flowers are up to 20mm long . Old unattended specimens tend to look untidy and scrawny .
Member of the coleus family ... woolly pletranthus has been abundant this summer
Exercise great care when removing the plant as pieces of stem left behind will take root and grow . There is no herbicide registered for the control of Woolly plectranthus . Cutting back promotes coppicing , so the cut stump has to be dealt
ALIENS
with . Either remove it entirely or treat the stump in some other way . If possible all parts of the plant should be burnt if incineration of garden refuse is permitted in your area . Shredding is another option . If the plant is in your garden , any local plectranthus species ( Plectranthus ecklonii ,– pink and mauve and Plectranthus fruticosus - white ) will make a worthwhile replacement and there are several more exceptionally beautiful varieties ranging from those suitable for pots and flower boxes ( P saccatus ) tosmalland medium shrubs ( P ciliatus) and ground covers ( P madagascariensis, orP verticillatus ). In pastures and fields the plant should be removed as it is unpalatable and is not grazed by livestock and will supplant natural species and grasses . References : Alien Weeds & Invasive Plants by Lesley Henderson , Agricultural Research Council , and The Southern African Plectranthus by Ernst van Jaarsveld , 2006 .
Small purple flowers on Abyssinian coleus or woolly plectranthus
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