Topic summary
Coleus scutellarioides
Coleus scutellarioides, commonly known as coleus, is a species of flowering plant in the familyLamiaceae (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 evergreenperennial, widely grown for the highly decorative variegated leaves found in cultivated varieties.
Another common name is painted nettle, reflecting its relationship to deadnettles (the Lamium species), which are in the same family. (True nettles and their close kin are in the distant family Urticaceae.) The synonymsColeus blumei, Plectranthus scutellarioides and Solenostemon scutellarioides are also widely used for this species.