Unpleasant-smelling perennial trailing herb to about 30 cm tall, branching at the base. Leaves fleshy, obovate, 2-4 cm long with 4-6 pairs of rounded teeth along the margin, stalk to 1 cm long. Flowers with corolla 2-2.5 cm long, blue-purple with dark marks on the upper lip; year round. [Coleus caninus hort., C. canis hort., C. comosus hort., C. spicatus Benth.]

A few plants have escaped from gardens in the Sydney district.

 

P. caninus Roth. from India to Africa is rather similar but is an annual herb with a corolla 8-10 mm long; it is naturalised in the Sydney district.

Source: Lumley, P. (2002). Origanum. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.