Coleus leemannii
| Coleus leemannii | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Lamiales |
| Family: | Lamiaceae |
| Genus: | Coleus |
| Species: | C. leemannii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Coleus leemannii (N.Hahn) A.J.Paton
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Coleus leemannii, the Soutpansberg flybush, is a species of hullwort endemic to South Africa′s Limpopo province.[2]
It is listed as Rare (Least Concern) in the Red List of South African Plants.[1]
Description
This species is a single- or multi-stemmed shrub, usually 1–1.5 m (3 ft 3 in – 4 ft 11 in) tall, occasionally reaching 2 m (6 ft 7 in). The main stem may be up to 50 mm (2.0 in) in diameter and shows distinct annual growth rings. Young stems are pale brown and softly hairy, becoming glabrous with age; the bark is grey to grey-brown.[3]
The leaves are arranged oppositely, rarely in threes, and are borne on short stalks. The leaf blades are ovate to elliptic or trullate, 59–66 mm (2.3–2.6 in) long, with a pale green, sparsely hairy upper surface and a grey, densely felted underside. The margins are crenate to dentate.
The inflorescence is a terminal thyrse 50–100 mm (2.0–3.9 in) long, bearing flowers in stalked cymes. The calyx is tubular and five-toothed, green and glandular-hairy, enlarging in fruit. The corolla is white with purple-pink markings, with a boat-shaped lower lobe. The fruit consists of small, rounded brown nutlets.
Distribution and habitat
Coleus leemannii is found among rocks in open bushveld in the mistbelt of the Soutpansberg and Blouberg mountains in Limpopo, above 1,400 m (4,600 ft) in altitude.
Etymology
The species is named after the botanist Dr Albert Konrad Leemann (1892–1975), who first collected a specimen and published a photograph of it in the German botanical journal Vegetationsbilder.[4]
Born in Johannesburg, Leemann (sometimes given as ″Leeman″) obtained his PhD in Geneva, Switzerland, before returning to South Africa to work, principally in agricultural weed control.[5]
He later moved to Europe permanently, where his writing – books such as Die Wiedergeburt des Abendlandes (1958) and Biologische Volksordnung (1971) – grew esoteric and distinctly ideological. Advancing a völkisch worldview grounded in holistic metaphysics, biological determinism, and racialised conceptions of social order, Leemann became associated with an extreme-right international network of ex-Nazi or Nazi-adjacent writers and activists that included Einar Åberg, Savitri Devi, and Johann von Leers.[6][7] He died in Salzburg.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Rabdosiella leemannii". Red List of South African Plants. SANBI. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
- ^ Klopper, R.R.; Winter, P.J.D., eds. (20 March 2025). "The South African National Plant Checklist: 2025 official yearly release". South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Retrieved 12 January 2026.
- ^ Hahn, N.; Bredenkamp, G.J. (18 August 2007). "Lamiaceae: Rhabdosiella leemannii, a new species from the Limpopo Province of South Africa". Bothalia. 37 (1). Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute: 37–40. doi:10.4102/abc.v37i1.298. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
- ^ Leemann, A.C. (1935). "Der Blaauwberg im Norden von Transvaal". Vegetationsbilder (in German). 24. Jena: Gustav Fischer: 43–48. OCLC 5218386.
- ^ Glen, H.F.; Germishuizen, G. (2010). "Botanical Exploration of Southern Africa". Strelitzia. 26. Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute: 257. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
- ^ "Rechtsradikalismus in der Bundesrepublik. Ein Erfahrungsbericht". Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (in German) (20). Bonn: Bundeszentrale für Heimatdienst: 249. 16 May 1962. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
- ^ Blank, Ralf (2002). "Zur Biografie des Hagener Oberbürgermeisters und stellvertretenden Gauleiters in Westfalen-Süd, Heinrich Vetter (1890–1969)". Westfälische Zeitschrift (in German). 151/152. Münster: Paderborn: 414–447.