Appearance
''Plectranthus amboinicus'' is a large succulent herb, fleshy and highly aromatic, much branched, possessing short soft erect hairs, with distinctive smelling leaves. The stem is fleshy, about 30–90 cm, either with long rigid hairs or tomentose . Leaves are undivided , broad, egg/oval-shaped with a tapering tip and very thick, they are pubescent , with the lower surface possessing the most numerous glandular hairs, giving a frosted appearance. The taste of this leaf is pleasantly aromatic with agreeable and refreshing odour. Flowers are on a short stem , pale purplish in dense whorls at distant intervals in a long slender raceme.Naming
English⤷ ''country borage''
⤷ ''French thyme''
⤷ ''Indian borage''
⤷ ''Indian mint''
⤷ ''Mexican mint''
⤷ ''Spanish thyme''
⤷ ''big thyme''
⤷ "Thick leaf thyme" or "Broad leaf thyme"
⤷ ''poor man pork ''or'' broad leaf thyme''
⤷ also ''broadleaf thyme; Cuban oregano; Mexican thyme; queen of herbs; three-in-one herb; allherb; mother of herbs''
French
⤷ ''orielle''
German
⤷ ''Jamaika-Thymian''
Hindi
⤷ पथरचुर ''pathorchur''/''patharcur''
⤷ ''patta ajavayin''
Javanese
⤷ daun kutjing
Kannada
⤷ ದೊಡ್ಡಪತ್ರೆ ಸೊಪ್ಪು ''doddapatre soppu'' also called as Saviara sambara
Malayalam
⤷ പനിക്കൂര്ക്ക ''panikkoorkka''
Khmer
⤷ ជីរស្លឹកក្រាស់ ''chi slök krahs''
⤷ ជីរក្រអូប ''chi krâ-ôb''
⤷ ជីរត្រចៀកជ្រូក ''chi trâchi:ëk chru:k''
Malay
⤷ ''bangun bangun''
⤷ ''dacon ajenton''
Oriya
⤷ ରୁକୁଣା ହାତପୋଛା Rukuna Haatapochhaa
Portuguese
⤷ Hortelã-da-folha-grande Brasil
Spanish
⤷ ''orégano de Cartagena''
⤷ ''toronjil de limón''
⤷ ''orégano brujo''
⤷ ''orégano poleo''
⤷ ''orégano''
⤷ ''orégano macho''
Sinhala
⤷ කප්පරවල්ලිය ''Kapparawalliya''
Swedish
⤷ ''kryddkarlbergare''
Tagalog
⤷ ''suganda''
Tamil
⤷ கற்பூரவள்ளி ''karpooravalli / karpuravalli''
⤷ omavalli
Tongan
⤷ ''pāsiole''
⤷ ''kaloni''
Tulu
⤷ Sambrani Soppu
Vietnamese
⤷ ''tần dầy lá''
⤷ ''húng chanh''
In the Indian state of Odisha it is called ରୁକୁଣା ହାତପୋଛା , in Andhra Pradesh it is called కప్పరిల్లాకు ''kapparillaaku'' and ''vaamaaku'', in Karnataka it is called ದೊಡ್ಡಪತ್ರೆ ಸೊಪ್ಪು ''doddapatre soppu'', in Tamil Nadu it is called கற்பூரவள்ளி ''karpooravalli'' and in Kerala it is called as പനിക്കൂർക്ക ''panikoorka'' and has various uses in treating cold / cough / fever.
Chinese
⤷ 到手香
⤷ 左手香
Trinidad & Tobago
⤷ ''Pudina''
⤷ ''Podina''
Uses
The leaves are strongly flavoured and make an excellent addition to stuffings for meat and poultry. Finely chopped, they can also be used to flavour meat dishes, especially beef, lamb and game. Such use as a flavouring and its geographic spread is indicated by some of the common names, and documented for Cambodia and South Africa It is also used as a vegetable, for example in South East Asia. The herb is used as a substitute for oregano in the food trade and food labelled "oregano-flavoured" may well contain this herb.The leaves have also had many traditional medicinal uses, especially for the treatment of coughs, sore throats and nasal congestion, but also for a range of other problems such as infections, rheumatism and flatulence. The plant is cultivated in home-gardens throughout India for use in traditional medicine, being used to treat malarial fever, hepatopathy, renal and vesical calculi, cough, chronic asthma, hiccough, bronchitis, helminthiasis, colic, convulsions, and epilepsy, Shenoy and others refer to further Indian traditional medicinal uses such as for skin ulcerations, scorpion bite, skin allergy, wounds, diarrhoea, with emphasis on the leaves being used as a hepatoprotective, to promote liver health. In Indonesia ''Plectranthus amboinicus'' is a traditional food used in soup to stimulate lactation for the month or so following childbirth. In Cambodia 2 uses are recorded: juice from the leaves is sweetened and then given to children as protection from colds; and leaves are applied to the lips. In Bahia, Brasil, people use the plant to treat skin lesions caused by Leishmania braziliensis. Just to the north, in Paraiba of the same country, the plant was extremely commonly known for use in home medication. As noted above, medicinal use also occurs in Southern India, it also documented in other parts of South East Asia and South Africa.
Other uses include as an ornamental, and for its essential oils.
References:
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