Plectranthus oertendahlii comes from KwaZulu-Natal, a narrow coastal region of South Africa where it grows in the filtered light of subtropical forest understories. The common names are a geographic muddle — neither Brazilian nor Swedish — but the plant itself is coherent and specific: dark rounded leaves traced with silver along the veins, with reddish-purple undersides that catch the light when the plant is viewed from below. In autumn, small pale lavender flowers appear on upright spikes, earning it the name November Lights.

As a houseplant it thrives in the kind of low-light corners that defeat most flowering plants. Kept slightly pot-bound and watered moderately, it remains tidy and compact. The foliage is the draw here, maintaining its silver tracery year-round and making it a natural companion to darker-leaved begonias and calatheas in a shaded indoor arrangement.