Oregano
Coleus amboinicus · Indian borage
- Names in the 1901 book
- Orégano, Sp.-Fil.; Suganda, Tag.; Marjoram, Eng. (The Sp. and Eng. names are incorrect.)
- Names in the 1985 book
- Spanish: Torongil de Limon; Tagalog: Suganda, Oregano
- Used for
- Cough and asthmaStomach and digestionJoint pain, sprains and swellingHeadache and faintingBites and stings
- Colours
- flowerlilac
- Native range
- Eastern and southern Africa
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Universally abundant.
- Family
- Lamiaceae, filed in the book under Labiatæ
- Printed in 1901 as
- Coleus aromaticus, Benth. (C. suganda, Blanco.)
- Printed in 1985 as
- Coleus aromaticus Benth.
- Sources
- Page 196 on Project Gutenberg · Healing Wonders of Herbs (1985), page 116 · Wikipedia
The plant today
Coleus amboinicus is a species of semi-succulent perennial plant in the family Lamiaceae. It has a pungent oregano-like flavor and odor. Coleus amboinicus is considered to be native to parts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and India, although it is widely cultivated and naturalized elsewhere in the tropics where it is used as a spice and ornamental plant. Common names in English include Indian borage, country borage, French thyme, Indian mint, Mexican mint, Cuban oregano, broad leaf thyme, soup mint, Spanish thyme. The species epithet, amboinicus refers to Ambon Island, in Indonesia.
Excerpt from “Coleus amboinicus” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 165 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 41 provinces, most often Agusan del Sur (23), Davao del Sur (14), Metropolitan Manila (10), Bataan (7), Cebu (7), Laguna (7), Camarines Sur (6), Cavite (6), and 33 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
The fleshy, aromatic leaves of this plant are bruised and applied locally for the bites of centipedes and scorpions. They are also applied to the temples and forehead for headache, held in place by a bandage. In Cochin China they are used in asthma, chronic bronchitis, epilepsy and other convulsive diseases. The juice of the leaves is a carminative and is given to children suffering with wind colic. Dr. Wight claims to have observed occasional intoxicating effects following its use, but Dymock states that he has never observed such effects. The plant contains a coloring matter, colein (C10H10O3), red, insoluble in ether, soluble in alcohol, slightly soluble in water. On the addition of ammonia the solution changes to purple, then violet, indigo, green, and, finally, greenish-yellow.
Another species, the C. atropurpureus, Benth. (C. grandifolius, Blanco), well known in the Philippines by its common name mayana, is used in the treatment of bruises, the bruised fleshy leaves being the part employed; these leaves are downy and dark violet in color.
Botanical description
Leaves opposite, nearly sessile, cordate, obtuse, downy and very fleshy. Flowers in a quadrangular raceme, each group of these flowerets having a concave scale at the base. Calyx bell-shaped, 2-lipped; the upper lip longer and entire; the lower with 4 narrow teeth. Corolla a pale violet, 5 times longer than the calyx. Stamens didynamous, straight, longer than the corolla. Style bifid. Seeds 4.
What the 1985 book uses it for
A record of home remedies from 1985, with the book's amounts and doses reworded. It is not medical advice.
- CoughLeaf decoction, drunk.Boil 1 cup of chopped fresh leaves in 2 glasses of water for 15 minutes. Adults take half a cup three times a day. Children three times a day: babies 1 teaspoon, ages 2 to 6 2 tablespoons, ages 7 to 12 a quarter cup.Page 19
Summarised from Herminia de Guzman-Ladion, Healing Wonders of Herbs (Manila: Philippine Publishing House, 1985), where this plant is shown as “Oregano” on page 116. The book is in copyright, so its wording and photographs are not reproduced. Amounts are the book's, restated.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Dietary Coleus amboinicus Lour. decreases ruminal methanogenesis and biohydrogenation, and improves meat quality and fatty acid composition in longissimus thoracis muscle of lambs
- Impact of Folic Acid in Modulating Antioxidant Activity, Osmoprotectants, Anatomical Responses, and Photosynthetic Efficiency of Plectranthus amboinicus Under Salinity Conditions
- Plectranthus amboinicus and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) essential oils effects on performance, antioxidant activity, intestinal health, immune response, and plasma biochemistry in broiler chickens