| It's a Plectranthus all right, but Vicks Plant and Mother of Herbs are 2 different species. Mother of Herbs is P.amboinicus, aka Coleus amboinicus (Cuban Oregano, Queen of Herbs, Five in One Herb, Five Seasons Herb, Allherb, Country Borage, Indian Borage, Five Spice Herb, Chinese Three in One, Broad Leafed Thyme, Spanish Thyme, Spanish Sage, Puerto Rican Oregano, etc), while Vicks Plant is P.tomentosa, which doesn't taste nice at all! Mother of Herbs is the herb to use when you don't know what herb to use! Use in the same ways as Oregano in Mediterranean dishes and stews, with tomatoes and capsicum. Use an infusion of the leaves as a hair rinse to treat dandruff or in the laundry as a final rinse. The leaf tea can be taken for bronchitis, asthma, coughs, viral conditions, to relieve indigestion and stomach cramps, convulsions, as a liver tonic, for insomnia, and for pain relief. Pulped leaves will relieve the pain of scorpion or centipede bites and stings. Chew leaves to relieve sore throat and coughs. It likes a bit of room to move - is more of a groundcover, so won't be happy in a small pot for long. In fact, in the right conditions, it might want to take over, but it's easily pulled up. Prefers dry-ish conditions, warmth and full sun. It doesn't mind a bit of humidity. Doesn't tolerate the cold very well. Otherwise, as tough as old nails! I've seen the flower stalks reach nearly a metre long. Your specimen isn't too happy. It's a bit leggy, so it needs more sunlight - REAL sunlight, not the filtered light you get through a glass window. |
