Plectranthus strigosus

Plectranthus strigosus, commonly known as the dwarf spurflower or creeping spurflower, is a soft, much-branched, spreading perennial reaching 30 cm in height. The young stems are square in cross-section. Both stems and leaves are sparsely covered in rusty hairs. Strigose, from the Latin word striga, meaning furrow, means having strigae, small, stiff hairs, swollen at their bases.

The long-stalked, opposite leaves are scalloped or toothed in their upper parts. The leaf-shape is broadly ovate with rounded or pointed tip, the semi-succulent blades borne horizontally. The glossy surfaces are bright green or reddish, depending on the amount of sun the typical shade plant receives. The leaf midrib and the few spaced, ascending lateral veins are recessed on the upper surface. Leaf diameter varies from 1,5 cm to 3,5 cm.

The species distribution is coastal in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, inland in the Mpumalanga Lowveld; also in Eswatini.

The habitat is moist forests, the plants growing in loamy soils, at home among tree roots. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org; http://redlist.sanbi.org).