Why do some coleus that look the same have different names?
In the absence of a Coleus Society or registry for hybridizers, many Coleus cultivars have been claimed, renamed, and even patented by nurseries or companies that had nothing to do with developing that cultivar. Coleus are also very generous with producing “sports,” which are mutations that can be propagated and sold as a new variety. The same sport may occur spontaneously at different nurseries and each might claim it as a new introduction and give it their own name. This causes a lot of confusion for Coleus enthusiasts! We try to list the common alias for each variety in the description. All types of coleus are now in the genus Solenostemon scutellarioides, so technically the name “Coleus blumei” or “Coleus hybridus” no longer exists. Most of our plants labeled with the common name “Coleus” fall into the former Coleus blumei category, although some of the the trailing varieties were formerly labeled C. pumilus or C. rehneltianus.
