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Coleus caninus
Also called Semidesert Hullwort, Scaredy Cat Plant
Coleus caninus, synonym Plectranthus caninus, also called dogbane, piss-off plant and scaredy-cat plant, is a herb from the mint family Lamiaceae, native to southern and eastern Africa from Angola to Sudan and to India and Myanmar.
The plant can purportedly be used to keep away cats and dogs, who may smell the aroma on the intact leaves and be repelled, hence its various common names, though there is no scientific evidence to show that these claims are factual. An attempt to register "Coleus canina" to receive plant variety protection failed as it was considered to be only a clone of Coleus comosus (synonym Plectranthus ornatus).
These plants root easily from cuttings, tolerating mild drought conditions and full sun to part shade. Too much shade causes the stems to become leggy, as they stretch up to look for the sunlight, while the foliage lags behind. It does not tolerate frost and prefers moist soils, though when established it can tolerate drier conditions.
It is native to southern and eastern Africa and South Asia: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Myanmar, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Silver Hullwort · Coleus ater · Coleus comosus · Coleus cremnus · Native Coleus · Coleus habrophyllus · Coleus maculosus · Common Thicket Spurflower · Hullworts · Coleus amboinicus · Coleus argentatus · Coleus barbatus
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Coleus caninus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
