COLEUS

Old World tropical plant genus of about 150 species, of the mint family (Lamiaceae), order Lamiales, best known for members with colourful foliage. Varieties of C. blumei, from Java, are well-known house and garden plants up to one metre (three feet) tall. They have square stems and two-lipped flowers, which in C. blumei are small, blue, and in spikes. Bush coleus (C. thrysoideus), from Central Africa, reaches one metre and produces seven-centimetre (about three-inch) sprays of bright blue flowers. Others are variously known as flame nettle, painted leaves, painted nettle, Spanish thyme, Indian borage, country borage, and flowering bush.