the more light is present, the more anthocyanins are produced, with an inverse relationship to the production of chlorophyll. Anthocyanins are created inside the cell and facilitate photosynthesis in leaves that are exposed to very intense or prolonged sunlight by providing protection from damage caused by ultraviolet light. Some coleus cultivars over-produce anthocyanins and under-produce chlorophyll to the extent that optimal growth is prevented. Taxonomy The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1763, as Ocimum scutellarioides. The genus Ocimum is best known for Ocimum basilicum, sweet basil. The specific epithet scutellarioides (with the suffix ) means "Scutellaria-like". Scutellaria is a genus also in the Lamiaceae; its name is derived from the Latin , meaning a small dish or bowl. Genera and species related to Ocimum, placed in the tribe Ocimeae, have been the subject of considerable taxonomic confusion, and C. scutellarioides has been placed in several genera and been given multiple synonyms. Robert Brown transferred O. scutellarioides to the genus Plectranthus in 1810. George Bentham transferred it to the genus Coleus as Coleus scutellarioides in 1830, and in 1832 also described Coleus blumei, now regarded as just a variant of this species. Placement in the genus Coleus led to the name "coleus", still widely used by horticulturalists and gardeners, and now treated as a common name for this species. It was transferred to Solenostemon by Leslie E. W. Codd in 1975. A major phylogenetic study of the subtribe Plectranthinae in 2018 showed that the genus Plectranthus, as then circumscribed, was not monophyletic, and the authors proposed re-instating Coleus, then wholly submerged in Plectranthus. A summary cladogram for the subtribe Plectranthinae, based on the 2018 study, was published in 2019, along with names in Coleus for all the species recognized in that genus. In the version of the cladogram below, the three genera that formed part of Plectranthus s.l. are highlighted. Distribution and habitat Coleus scutellarioides is native from southeast Asia through to Australia (the Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Cambodia, Southeast China, Java, Laos, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Peninsular Malaysia, Maluku, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, New Guinea, Northern Territory, Philippines, Queensland, the Solomon Islands, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Western Australia). It is cultivated worldwide and may be naturalized in other tropical regions. In its native habitat, it is found at elevations of , where it flowers and fruits throughout the year. It is winter hardy to USDA Zones 10–11. Cultivation