Common names include Cuban oregano, Spanish thyme, Orégano Brujo, Indian Borage, Húng chanh, Big Thyme, Mexican thyme, and Mexican mint
This succulent herb has the typical four-cornered stem of the Lamiaceae family.
The leaves are very thick and succulent, grey-green and hairy.
The plant grows to around 50 cm tall.
The leaves are highly aromatic with a strong flavour of mixed herbs.
The flowers are pale blue or mauve to pink in colour.
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.
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.
In Indonesia Plectranthus amboinicus is a traditional food used in soup to stimulate lactation for the month or so following childbirth.
The herb is also used as a substitute for oregano in the food trade and food labelled "oregano-flavoured" may well contain this herb.