Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, South Africa

Common name: Bontblaar spoorsalie, Silverleaf spurflower

Family: Lamiaceae (Mint)

Distribution: KwaZulu-Natal

National red list: Rare

Comments: Plectranthus oertendahlii was grown in Europe long before its wild origin was known. By 1924, plants were described in Sweden and named after Ivan Anders Oertendahl, the head gardener of Uppsala University Botanical Garden. When, where and by whom these plants were collected and how they got to Sweden, nobody knows. Their natural habitat only became known after Lillian Britten, a botanist from Grahamstown, collected plants for a herbarium specimen in the Oribi Gorge in 1936.