What Is the Difference Between Castalia & Coleus?

Water Lily

• Nymphaea odorata is a fragrant water lily found in ponds, lakes and ditches. Its round, floating leaves grow up to 16 inches across and its flowers are white or pink. In some states, it is considered invasive, because of its hardiness and tendency to multiply and create mats in lakes and rivers. Planted as ornamentals into lakes, these water lilies spread quickly by rhizomes, choking out native plants.

Coleus

• Nurseries fill with dozens of coleus varieties in early summer for use in container plantings. The leafy plants, which grow 1 to 3 feet tall, offer a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns, plus interesting leaf forms. Some have small leaves with curly edges; others, such as the Kong series, have leaves up to 6 inches across. Originally used as a shade-loving annual in North America, newer varieties have been hybridized to thrive in full sun. A member of the mint family, coleus has square stems.

Name Changes for Coleus

• Coleus used to be the botanical genus name for just one plant, Coleus blumei, native to Java. But that was changed because coleus tends to hybridize easily with different plant species. For a while, coleus was placed in the Plectranthus genus. Now it is Solenostemon scutellariodes but is sometimes called Plectranthus scutellariodes. The original name comes from the Greek "koleos," which means sheath, a reference to the male portions of coleus flowers. Blumei was for Karl Ludwig Blume, a Dutch writer who specialized in plants from Java.

Name Changes for Castalia

• Originally called Castalia reniformis by its discoverer, Walter Hitchcock, in 1892, the name of this common water lily was rejected by the scientific community and changed to Nymphaea odorata in 1895.