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Swedish Ivy

Coleus forsteri, Lamiaceae

Sources last read 14 September 2026.

Not yet rated How forgiving it is has not been judged here yet.

Swedish Ivy (Coleus forsteri), the whole plant.
Mokkie, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Toxicity is partly unassessed

  • Not assessed for cats. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for dogs. This plant is not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.
  • Not assessed for people. NC State Extension publishes no harm statement for this plant. That is not a finding of safety: none of the sources read for this site gives an answer either way. Treat it as unknown.

What the sources say about its care

Sources file this plant under other names: Coleus forsteri 'Marginatus'. Citations below point at the name its source uses.

Light
Dappled Sunlight, Partial Shade
NC State Extension, filed as Coleus forsteri 'Marginatus' · read 13 September 2026
Water
Good Drainage, Moist, Occasionally Dry
NC State Extension, filed as Coleus forsteri 'Marginatus' · read 13 September 2026
Humidity

No source read publishes a humidity figure for any plant on this site. What follows is general guidance for foliage plants.

ASHRAE recommends indoor relative humidity between 30% and 60% 30–60%
Penn State Extension · read 13 September 2026
Soil
High Organic Matter, Loam (Silt)
NC State Extension, filed as Coleus forsteri 'Marginatus' · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to cats
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Toxic to dogs
Not on the ASPCA list. That is not a finding of safety.
ASPCA · read 13 September 2026
Harmful to people
No record of poisoning in people is listed for this plant; that absence is not evidence it is safe.
NC State Extension · read 13 September 2026

Routine care

Propagation
Take stem cuttings in spring or fall.
NC State Extension, filed as Coleus forsteri 'Marginatus' · read 13 September 2026

Move something and watch

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Close view of Swedish Ivy (Coleus forsteri) foliage.
Close upDavid J, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About the plant

Native range
SW. Pacific
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Climate
wet tropical
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Growth form
subshrub
World Checklist of Vascular Plants, June 2026 release, CC BY.
Kew WCVP · read 13 September 2026
Ground Cover, Perennial; habit spreading
NC State Extension, filed as Coleus forsteri 'Marginatus' · read 13 September 2026
Size
Height 6–12 in; width 12–36 in
NC State Extension, filed as Coleus forsteri 'Marginatus' · read 13 September 2026
Flowering
Flowers pink, white; blooms in summer
NC State Extension, filed as Coleus forsteri 'Marginatus' · read 13 September 2026

Other Coleus

More of the Lamiaceae family

Plants with similar care

Sources

What this does not cover

The figures above are what published sources say, not measurements of the plant in your room. They say nothing about your pot size, your water, the season, or how far from the glass the plant stands, and those decide more than any figure here does.

Humidity has no species figure because no source read for this site publishes one, and the only temperature published for this plant is a cold floor. The simulator fills those gaps with general figures for its kind of plant, marked as general and listed on how we read sources. Where a toxicity row says the plant was not assessed, that is the absence of a finding and not a finding of safety.

If something is already wrong, the diagnosis tool asks about the soil, the window and the watering, which is where the answer usually is.