Showy ornamental shade plant of Southeast Asian origin, grown worldwide for its riotously coloured foliage. The Mazatec curanderos of Oaxaca include several Coleus cultivars in their botanical repertoire alongside Salvia divinorum — calling them el ahijado ("godchild") and la nene ("the child").
Native to tropical Southeast Asia; cultivated globally as a garden and houseplant.
The names this organism has been given by the cultures that have lived alongside it. Each carries an entire relationship — what is sacred is never simply translated.
- el ahijadoSpanish (Mazatec)"the godchild"
- la neneSpanish (Mazatec)"the child"
- Mazatec ceremonial use parallel to Salvia divinorum, particularly when S. divinorum is out of season
Reports of Coleus psychoactivity have circulated since the 1960s but never been chemically substantiated. The plant likely owes its Mazatec inclusion to ceremonial symbolism rather than pharmacology — it sits in the same family (Lamiaceae) as Salvia divinorum and has the same general leaf-and-stem habit but no salvinorin-class compounds have been confirmed.
- Wasson 1962
- Valdes 1983
