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The Lanyu coleus (Coleus formosanus) belongs to Lamiaceae (the Mint family). It is an evergreen perennial herb that is found on Yonaguni Island in Japan's Yaeyama Islands, on Green Island and Lanyu in Taiwan, on the Batan Islands and Babuyan Island in the Philippines, and in Malaysia. It grows on rocky outcrops along sunny coastal cliffs and reaches a height of 30 to 50 cm. The stem is square-shaped, and the base creeps along the ground, taking root. The leaves are ovate to rhomboid-ovate, fleshy, and oppositely arranged with blunt serrations along the margins. They are also densely covered with short white hairs. From summer to fall, it produces spike-like whorled inflorescences at the tips of the branches, bearing small pale reddish-purple flowers. The corolla is two-lipped, with the lower lip divided into three lobes. It is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) in the Ministry of the Environment's Red List. In Taiwanese Chinese, it is known as "蘭嶼小鞘蕊花".
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