Coleus (Coleus scutellarioides)

Description

Plectranthus scutellarioides, commonly known as coleus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae (the mint or deadnettle family), native to southeast Asia through to Australia. Typically growing to 60–75 cm (24–30 in) tall and wide, it is a bushy, woody-based evergreen perennial, widely grown for the highly decorative variegated leaves found in cultivated varieties. Another common name is painted nettle, reflecting its relationship to deadnettles (Lamium species), which are in the same family. (True nettles and their close kin are in the family Urticaceae.) The synonyms Coleus blumei and Solenostemon scutellarioides are also widely used names for this species. Plectanthrus scutellarioides is an upright annual or short-lived perennial plant. It may be as much as 1 m (3 ft) tall, with well branched, more-or-less four-sided stems. Shorter, more trailing forms have sometimes been described as separate species, under names such as Coleus pumilus or Solenostemon pumilus, but are all now considered part of the very variable P. scutellarioides. The species is extremely variable in the colour and shape of the leaves. They are somewhat fleshy, varying in size from 1.5–10 cm (0.6–3.9 in) long by 1–6 cm (0.4–2.4 in) wide, generally ovate in shape, and borne on petioles (stalks) from 0.5–5 cm (0.2–2.0 in) long. The leaf margin is divided to a variable degree. Hairs are present on both sides of the leaf. The inflorescence is borne on the end of a stem and, like the leaves, is very variable in size; it may be up to 4 cm (1.6 in) long, with few or many flowers. The calyx is bell-shaped, initially only 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) long, but lengthening to 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) when in fruit. The bluish-purple petals are joined to form a typical two-lipped labiate flower, 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long. The stamens are joined for about half their length and are covered by the upper lip of the flower. The fruit is described as a "nutlet", and is black, about 1 mm (0.04 in) long. The leaves of the wild species may be somewhat variegated, but this has been developed to an extreme degree in cultivated varieties, whose leaves may include one or more shades of green, white, cream, yellow, pink, red, maroon and dark purple.