Beyond that, the plant is a bit of a mystery. We'll continue to call it the coleus, if you don't mind. Some people, desperate for an even simpler name, will prefer to call it the flame nettle. You can pay a fair bit for a nice coleus, the word 'nice' depending on whatever combination of seemingly chaotic colours that turns you on. When you put a few plants together in a bed the result can be an absolute riot.
Coleus is a plant that's simplicity itself to grow from seed.
You can guess what might result from a seed packet labelled Dragon Sunset and Volcano Mixed a display of deep reds, scarlet, apricot, pink and gold. Much less chaotic are varieties like Palisandra with all the plants in that deepest red that looks almost black, providing a stunning backcloth in a bedding display. Black Dragon is another each leaf has a deep pink centre. Most varieties grow 12 to 18 inches and need pinching out to produce really bushy plants, although there are some true dwarf varieties which are self-branching. The varieties grown especially for foliage display often have insignificant flowers, generally taken out to improve the foliage.