EXPANDING THE FLORA OF JAVA: AN ADDITIONAL ORNAMENTAL COLEUS (LAMIACEAE) SPECIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55981/floribunda.2025.14638Keywords:
Lamiales, Malesia, Ocimeae, Ornamental, PlectranthineaeAbstract
Coleus Lour. is an Old-World genus widely cultivated as ornamental and medicinal plants, with seven species previously documented from Java. However, the regional flora continues to change due to ongoing horticultural introductions, and recently introduced cultivated taxa remain under-documented. This study aims to document the occurrence of an additional ornamental Coleus species in Java and to clarify its taxonomic and floristic significance. Field observations and specimen collections were conducted in West Java, and taxonomic identification was based on morphological examination and comparison with relevant literature. As a result, Coleus prostratus (Gürke) A.J.Paton is recorded here for the first time from Java, where it occurs exclusively in cultivated settings as a hanging ornamental plant. The species is readily distinguishable from other Coleus taxa in Java by its prostrate habit, small fleshy leaves, and characteristic vegetative morphology. This record increases the documented diversity of Coleus in Java and highlights the importance of documenting cultivated ornamental plants as part of contemporary floristic inventories, particularly in relation to future assessments of naturalization and biodiversity change.
Downloads
References
Backer CA & Bakhuizen van den Brink RC 1965. Flora of Java. Vol.II. N.V.P. Noordhoff. Groningen.
Baker JG 1900. Labiatae. In Thiselton-Dyer WT [editor]. Flora of Tropical Africa, Vol 5, Acanthaceae to Plantagineae. L. Reeve & Co. Ltd. England. Pp: 332-502.
Beentje H 2016. The Kew Plant Glossary: An illustrated dictionary of plant terms. Second Ed. Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew.
Bridson DM & Forman L 1992. The Herbarium Handbook. Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew.
Gürke M 1894. Labiatae Africanae II. Botanische Jahrbücher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 19: 195–223.
Irsyam ASD & Mountara A 2018. Plectranthus monostachyus (P. Beauv.) BJ Pollard (Lamiaceae) di Jawa. Floribunda 6(1): 32–33.
Irsyam ASD, Irwanto RR & Hariri MR 2019. Catatan keberadaan Costus afer Ker Gawl. (Costaceae) di Pulau Jawa. Floribunda 6(2): 64–71.
Irsyam ASD, Hariri MR, Peniwidiyanti, Anshori ZA, Dewi AP, Hutabarat PWK & Irwanto RR 2022. Five newly recorded alien species of Hydrocotyle Tourn. ex L. (Araliaceae) in Java, Indonesia. Check List 18(4): 763–772.
Irsyam ASD, Hariri MR, Kurniawan MFR & Irwanto RR 2023. Study on the Genus Plectranthus (Lamiaceae) in Java: P. verticillatus, a captivating new alien species. Biogenesis: Jurnal Ilmiah Biologi 11(1): 69–76.
Irsyam ASD, Hariri MR, Fadhil MH, Anshori ZA, Dewi AP, Peniwidiyanti P, Kurniawan MFR, Baidlowi MH & Rosleine D 2024. Three newly reported escaped non-native Costus L. species (Costaceae) in Java, Indonesia. Check List 20(6): 1404–1410.
Irsyam ASD, Hariri MR, Husaini IPA, Baidlowi MH, Suwandhi I & Rosleine D 2025a. The unexpected naturalization of Strobilanthes schomburgkii (Craib) J.R.I.Wood (Acanthaceae) in Java, Indonesia. Check List 21 (4): 705–711.
Irsyam ASD, Hariri MR, Peniwidiyanti P, Raynalta E, Baidlowi MH, Fadhil MH, Muzzazinah M & Rosleine D 2025b. Elodea najas (Planch.) Casp. and Vallisneria natans (Lour.) H.Hara (Hydrocharitaceae): Two Recently Naturalized Aquascape Plants in Java, Indonesia. Journal of Tropical Biodiversity and Biotechnology 10(3): jtbb18199.
Kiew R & Kamin I 2021. Coleus (Lamiaceae) in Peninsular Malaysia including two new species. PhytoKeys 186: 93–110.
Kurniawan MFR, Fadhil MH, Anshori ZA, Dewi AP, Peniwidiyanti, Baidlowi MH, Hariri MR, Irsyam ASD & Rosleine D 2025. Expansion of Costus diversity: documenting the occurrence of six newly cultivated species on Java. Floribunda 8(1): 1–10.
Paton AJ, Mwanyambo M, Govaerts RH, Smitha K, Suddee S, Phillipson PB, Wilson TC, Forster PI & Culham A 2019. Nomenclatural changes in Coleus and Plectranthus (Lamiaceae): a tale of more than two genera. PhytoKeys 129: 1–158.
POWO 2025. Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; https://powo.science.kew.org/ Retrieved 07 December 2025.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 2017. Guide to Collecting Herbarium Specimens in The Field. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Inverleith Row, Edinburgh.
Ryding O 2001. Reno Muschler and the identity of his African labiates. Biologiske Skrifter 54: 155–172.
Suddee S, Paton AJ & Parnell JA 2004. A taxonomic revision of tribe Ocimeae Dumort. (Lamiaceae) in continental South East Asia II. Plectranthinae. Kew Bulletin 59(3): 379–414.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Arifin Surya Dwipa Irsyam
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (SeeThe Effect of Open Access).
