coleus, painted nettle

Description:

Formerly Coleus blumei, Formerly Solenostemon scutellarioides. Plectranthus is a genus of perennial plants, native to tropical Africa, Asia, Australia, the East Indies, the Malay Archipelago, and the Philippines. Many cultivars of this southeast Asian species have been selected for their colorful variegated leaves, typically with sharp contrast between the colors; the leaves may be green, pink, yellow, black (a very dark purple), maroon, and red (analogous to the unrelated Caladium).

Habitat:

Growing as an ornamental in a semi-urban yard/garden in the equatorial tropics of northern New Guinea.

Notes:

The plant has been reported to have very mild relaxing and/or hallucinogenic effects when consumed. The effects of the Coleus plant have not been explored very much by modern scientists but the plant has been known to have been used by the Mazatec Indians of southern Mexico who have a history of consuming this plant for its effects.