Potato and Tuber Crops

Chinese Potato

Chinese Potato (Coleus)
Botanical Name	Soenostemon rotendifolius
	Coleus parviflorus
Chromosome Number	2n = 56,64
Family	Labiatae

• Coleus is a seasonal crop cultivated for its edible tubers in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Tubers which resemble miniature potato have a characteristic flavour and are used as vegetable after cooking.
• Plant is a bushy herbaceous annual with succulent stem and round ovate petiolate leaves.
• Plant is completely sterile and produces a cluster of dark brown tubers with round to oblong shape at the base of lower nodes of stem below soil.
• Coleus is originated in Africa and is grown in India, Sri Lanka, South East Asia and parts of Africa.