Forster, Plectranthus laetus and P. ventosus 
437 
Fig. 3. Plectranthus ventosus in habitat {Hines CM40 & Hoskin [BRI]). Photo: H. Hines. 
grew lithophytically on top of the boulders 
in detritus derived from leaf litter (Fig. 3). 
Two other species of Plectranthus occur at 
Cape Melville, namely P. dumicola and P. 
megadontus (Map 2); both tend to be at lower 
altitudes and in more exposed situations. 
Notes : Plectranthus ventosus was discovered 
at Cape Melville by Harry Hines and Conrad 
Hoskin on 15 December 2013 during surveys 
for amphibians and reptiles. Live material 
was forwarded to the author and cultivated in 
Brisbane. 
This species appears to be predominantly 
cleistogamous based on repeated inspection 
of cultivated material with normally formed 
inflorescences, verticillasters and buds. 
Fully formed seeds are present in most 
fruiting calyces and although a corolla is 
formed, it fails to open or appears malformed 
and dwarfed without proper expansion of 
the floral organs. Whether this is a case 
of ‘induced cleistogamy’ (equivalent to 
‘pseudocleistogamy’ or ‘ecological 
cleistogamy’) where floral development 
is affected by environmental conditions 
(Culley & Klooster 2007) remains to be seen. 
All other Australian Plectranthus flower 
normally, although Blake (1971) did observe 
cleistogamous flowers on P. parviflorus. 
Cleistogamy has not been recorded in the 
genus in other parts of its extra-Australian 
range with other Lamiaceae genera recorded 
as cleistogamous being Ajuga L., Lamium 
L., Salvia L. and Scutellaria L. (Culley & 
Klooster 2007). Although this Plectranthus 
