Not coleus . It is more of a tree type plant . Flowers could be single or doubles . Red , Orange , Yellow , White & more . When I trimmed it down , Main trunk was 3 inches in diameter .
Could it be some weird leaf mutation of a Hibiscus? Or even a leaf affected by mites, herbicide or a virus? There is a cultivar of H. tiliaceus with mutant foliage a bit like this.
Tony. You are 100% right . This Hibiscus was becoming a bother . So I cut it down to the ground & poured RoundUp all over the stump. 2 months later I got this . And no Turtles were affected in the process .
Interesting effect, now becoming increasingly known in rose growing down south because of the way the bizarre growth mimicks the Rose Rosette Disease. In fact, it was first described in Canada in 1940. The causal agent is unknown, but most likely a virus carried by airborne mites. It is an interesting disease because, on the one hand, farmers and landowners view it as a potential biological weapon for control of the invasive Rosa multiflora wild roses, but on the other hand, a scorch of nurseries and residential gardeners.
The problem is that rose rosette was recently made hypervirulent so it would clear multiflora rose out of timber production areas. Nevermind the effect it could have on rose growing and the production of related plants like orchard fruits.
