Taxon: Coleus barbatus (Andrews) Benth.

Summary

Genus:

Coleus

Family:

Lamiaceae (alt. Labiatae)

Subfamily:

Nepetoideae

Tribe:

Ocimeae

Subtribe:

Plectranthinae

Nomen number:

11153

Place of publication:

N. Wallich, Pl. asiat. rar. 2:15. 1830

Verified:

03/23/2021 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

3 (1 active, 0 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Plectranthus barbatus Andrews

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Coleus penzigii Baker

Invalid Designation(s)
Coleus forskohlii auct.
Plectranthus forskohlii auct.

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980-. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon.
Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
Paton, A. et al. 2019. Nomenclatural changes in Coleus and Plectranthus (Lamiaceae): a tale of more than two genera. PhytoKeys 129:1-158.
Personal Care Products Council. International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient
Valdes, L. G., III et al. 1987. Coleus barbatus (C. forskohlii)(Lamiaceae) and the potential new drug forskolin (Coleonol). Econ. Bot. 41:474-483.
Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition). Note: = of Coleus forskohlii (Willd.) Briq.

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	forskohlii		as Plectranthus barbatus	1	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland. Note: as Plectranthus barbatus

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	Note	Reference
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Kenya		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Uganda		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Eritrea		Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Ethiopia		Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Somalia		Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Sudan		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Burundi		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Rwanda		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Arabian Peninsula	Oman		Ghazanfar, S. A. 1992. An annotated catalogue of the vascular plants of Oman. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2
1	Native	Asia-Temperate	Arabian Peninsula	Yemen		Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Bhutan		Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984-. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India		Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Nepal		Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. Note: = Coleus barbatus (Andrews) Benth.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Sri Lanka		Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980-. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Note: = Coleus barbatus (Andrews) Benth.
1	Native	Asia-Tropical	Indo-China	Thailand		Suddee, S. et al. 2004. A taxonomic revision of tribe Ocimeae Dumort. (Lamiaceae) in continental South East Asia II. Plectranthinae. Kew Bull. 59:389-391.
2	Cultivated				widely cult.	Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
2	Cultivated	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zimbabwe		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
2	Cultivated	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
2	Cultivated	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	Sri Lanka		Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
6	Other				exact native range obscure	Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.

Native
Africa

NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia
EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda

Asia-Temperate

ARABIAN PENINSULA: Oman, Yemen

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal
INDO-CHINA: Thailand

Cultivated

REGION:

Africa

SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Zimbabwe
SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Sri Lanka

Other (exact native range obscure)

Reference(s)

Dassanayake, M. D. & F. R. Fosberg, eds. 1980-. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Note: = Coleus barbatus (Andrews) Benth.
Ghazanfar, S. A. 1992. An annotated catalogue of the vascular plants of Oman. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2
Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984-. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.
Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. Note: = Coleus barbatus (Andrews) Benth.
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
Suddee, S. et al. 2004. A taxonomic revision of tribe Ocimeae Dumort. (Lamiaceae) in continental South East Asia II. Plectranthinae. Kew Bull. 59:389-391.
Thulin, M., ed. 1993-. Flora of Somalia.
Turrill, W. B. et al., eds. 1952-. Flora of tropical East Africa.
Wood, J. R. I. 1997. A handbook of the Yemen flora.

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Environmental	erosion control	as Plectranthus barbatus	Hanelt, P., ed. 2001. Mansfeld's encyclopedia of agricultural and horticultural crops. Volumes 1-6 Note: as Plectranthus barbatus
Environmental	ornamental	as Plectranthus barbatus	Dyer, R. A. et al., eds. 1963-. Flora of southern Africa. Note: as Plectranthus barbatus
Human food	vegetable	tubers pickled	Valdes, L. G., III et al. 1987. Coleus barbatus (C. forskohlii)(Lamiaceae) and the potential new drug forskolin (Coleonol). Econ. Bot. 41:474-483.
Medicines	folklore		Valdes, L. G., III et al. 1987. Coleus barbatus (C. forskohlii)(Lamiaceae) and the potential new drug forskolin (Coleonol). Econ. Bot. 41:474-483.
Medicines	folklore	as Plectranthus barbatus	Padua, L. S. de et al., eds. 1999. Medicinal and poisonous plants 1. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA) 12(1):408. Note: as Plectranthus barbatus
Medicines	folklore	as Plectranthus barbatus	Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs Note: as Plectranthus barbatus
Medicines	folklore	as Plectranthus barbatus	McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland. Note: as Plectranthus barbatus

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=11153. Accessed 12 May 2026.