Healing herb
With its myriad uses, Indian borage is a great plant for your garden, writes Elaine Yim
INDIAN borage is a good choice for a tropical healing garden as it has a number of culinary as well as medicinal uses. My mother used to grow Indian borage as a remedy for persistent coughs, colds or sore throats. She would pluck the leaves fresh from the plant and boil them with rock sugar or sweet dates to make herbal tea.
It works like an antidote, especially for chronic coughs. The leaves can also be eaten raw but have a slightly bitter aftertaste. Some people steep the leaves in hot water and inhale the vapour to relieve a runny nose.
When grilling or baking meat, Indian borage can be used to replace thyme and oregano which are difficult to grow here. The leaves are seldom sold in markets so you’ll need to grow it yourself. You can get a cutting from someone. It’s a great plant for beginners as it’s difficult to kill. There’s no need for a big garden and you can train it into an attractive ornamental plant.
PLANT PROFILE:
Plectranthus amboinicus Lamiaceae (mint family)
Borage, Country Borage, Soup Mint, Indian/Mexican Mint, Cuban Oregano, Mexican/Spanish/French Thyme, Broadleaf Thyme, Thick Leaf Thyme. In Malaysia, it’s called Bangunbangun in Malay.
Its Chinese names are zuo shou xiang (meaning left-hand fragrance), dao shou xiang (meaning fragrance at hand) and yindu bohe (meaning Indian mint).
Plectranthus is derived from the Greek words plectron for spur and anthos for flower in reference to the appearance of the flowers. The specific epithet amboinicus refers to Ambon, which is part of the Maluku (Spice Islands) of Indonesia. Plectranthus amboinicus “Variegatus” is the cultivar with variegated leaves. your fingers.
The flowers are very small, pale purple and arranged in whorls along a flower spike. It’s difficult to collect the seeds for propagation since it rarely flowers here. The variegated variety tends to flower more readily though.