Indigenous Plectranthus (Lamiaceae) from South Africa as new flowering pot plants

Plectranthus L' Herit (Spurflowers) is a group of soft herbaceous plants, some with unusually beautiful tubular flowers in blue, violet, white and pink. They grow naturally in the subtropical south-eastern parts of South Africa as forest-floor plants and flowering times peak in autumn. Other salient qualities are easy cultivation and propagation, using stem cuttings; semi-drought tolerance and requirement for semi-shade. In South Africa Plectranthus spp. are widely used outdoors as indigenous bedding plants and groundcovers. A few species of this horticulturally neglected genus are used internationally as commercial foliage pot plants, with no or little breeding improvement. However the first distinctive varieties of flowering pot plants have been developed in South Africa over the past ten years. Species were found to hybridize with difficulty and the resulting interspecific hybrids are almost invariably seed sterile. In our breeding pro gramme we focus on developing a wide variety of compact plants with large and floriferous flower types and beautiful foliage. Improved foliage characters include texture (pleasant to touch and sight), shape (attractively rounded leaves), colour (silver-veined, variegated, underside red-tinted) and smell (pleasantly herbal typical of the mint family). A range of natural colours have been selected for and some selections now have the largest flowers in the genus. Product development focuses on flowering pot plants but also include hanging basket plants and floriferous outdoors plants for semi-shaded situations. The new series of hybrid Plectranthus are introduced under the Trademark 'Blue Angels'. Research and development are done by a group of specialist nurseries in Australia, Europe, Japan, U.S.A. and South Africa. This includes breeding, technical development, propagation / marketing and specialist administration, all by separate companies. Plant Breeders' Rights have been applied for.