Coleus scutellarioides

KO-lee-us  skew-tell-ar-ee-OH-ih-deez

SYN.

Plectranthus scutellarioides

SYN.

Solenostemon scutellarioides

Coleus scutellarioides (L.) Benth. is the accepted scientific name for this species of Coleus. It was named and described as such by George Bentham in Plantae Asiaticae Rariores in 1830. It was first named and described as Ocimum scutellarioides by Carl von Linnaeus in the second volume of the first edition of Species Plantarum in 1753.

To read the research document published on Phytokeys, “Nomenclatural changes in Coleus and Plectranthus (Lamiaceae): a tale of more than two genera” by Alan J. Patton and others”, click HERE. I think this is the document presented to make the name changes. 

The two most common synonyms that plants are still sold under are Plectranthus scutellarioides and Solenostemon scutellarioides. 

Now a synonym, Plectranthus scutellarioides (L.) R.Br. was described as such by Robert Brown in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae in 1810.

Now a synonym, Solenostemon scutellarioides (L.) Codd was described by Leslie Edward Wastell Codd in Bothalia in 1975.

The genus, Coleus Lour., was named and described as such by João de Loureiro in Flora Cochinchinensis in 1790.

As of 12-19-23 when this page was last updated, Plants of the World Online lists 301 species in the Coleus genus. It is a member of the plant family Lamiaceae with 232 genera. Those numbers could change as updates are made on POWO.

THERE ARE A FEW LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR FURTHER READING.

This page is dedicated to the many varieties I grew without names. Most of them were given to me as cutting while a few I did buy. I have looked through hundreds of photographs online but still am stumped. Coleus is one genera of plants who’s leaves can look different depending on the light they are grown in. I have several good guesses for each one, but none I was definitely sure about.

The one in the above photo was one of my favorites. It grew in a nice molding habit and was 16 ” tall when the photo was taken on 10-12-11. I took cuttings to overwinter this variety for 2012 but during the summer the leaves started curling and turned black… It eventually died. This one was given to me as a cutting from a friend.

This one was also an outstanding unnamed Coleus. It was 30″ tall when the above photo was taken on 10-12-11. I overwintered cuttings of this one for several years. This one was given to me as a cutting from a friend.

This Coleus was AWESOME!!! There are several cultivars on the internet that are very close and it is highly possible it was part of the Wizard series. The photos of “Wizard Mix” shows a Coleus just like this one… This one was given to me as a cutting from a friend.

This one’s leaves were all different making it very interesting. It grew fairly tall and upright. I don’t think it produced any flowers until very late. This one was given to me as a cutting from a friend.

I really liked this one. I figured one with this leaf pattern and color would be easy to identify online. But, no, I couldn’t find it. One day I will have to look again. This Coleus was 16 inches tall when this photo was taken on 10-11-11. It was given to me as a cutting from a friend. Actually, most of the Coleus on this page were from her in 2011. She dropped by on her way home from Lowe’s in Greenville and gave me a cutting of all the Coleus she had bought…

This one kind of looks like a couple of cultivars such as ‘Mosaic’ BUT not really 100%. Looks a lot like ‘Electric Lime” with chocolate spilled on it. Ummm, she gave me this as a cutting, too.

This one was one of the smaller-leaved training types. Id did good, but I just wasn’t really impressed with it. It was given to me as a cutting from a friend in 2010.

This Coleus kind of resembles #6 but they are not the same plant. It was given to me as a cutting, too. Umm… I am wondering now if #6 and #8 are the same plant…

One of my neighbors had several pretty nice flower beds. In 2009 they had these two HUGE plants she gave me in December. They were 30″ tall! I should have just taken cuttings because they didn’t make it through the winter.

Umm… I am not sure where I bought this one in 2014. Maybe Harrison Greenhouse. He decided to retire a couple of years ago. This Coleus didn’t grow very large and was consumed by one of the taller ones, which leads me to Unnamed Coleus #11..

I had bought 3 unnamed Coleus, I think, from Harrison’s in 2014. Anyway, there were 3 Coleus in the north bed. Two of them grew very tall and bushy.

This is the other one from Harrison’s that grew really big. You can see Unnamed #10 in the bottom left corner. I have 13 unnamed Coleus in the folders, but 12 & 13 turned out to be the same plant.

As I said, there are many photos on the internet to help you figure out what the name of your plants are but you have to consider the following:

1-The amount of sun your plants were growing in compared to the ones in the photos. Coleus leaves can be darker, brighter, etc. depending on their light and the time of the year (early vs. late in the season), etc.

2-The year you purchased your plants compared to the date the photos online were taken. Coleus plants available in garden centers from year to year are normally new releases or within a few years of being released. SO, if you have one you bought this year and it looks like a photo online that was taken 10-15 years ago… Chances are they will not be the same cultivars. Check websites from Ball FloraPlant, Proven Winners, Athena Brazil, etc. to see what was new from them. I will add new sources as I think of them.

Besides all the photos online you can see by clicking on “images”, there are several companies such as Rosy Dawn Gardens that are Coleus specialists. Glasshouse Works, and Coleus Central (International Coleus Society) are a few other good websites. Dave’s Garden also has lots of photos.

You can read my Coleus scutellarioides page by clicking HERE for more information and a list of all the Coleus I have grown.

I hope you enjoyed this page and maybe found it useful. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, I would like to hear from you. Please click on “like” if you visited this page. It helps us bloggers stay motivated. 🙂 You can check out the links below for further reading. The links take you directly to the genus and species of this plant. If you notice I made an error, please let me know. Of course, you can always send me an email at thebelmontrooster@yahoo.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
PLANTS OF THE WORLD ONLINE (GENUS/SPECIES)
WIKIPEDIA (GENUS/SPECIES)
PHYTOKEYS
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
GARDENING KNOW HOW