Bloodleaf

Iresine herbstii, bloodleaf or beefsteak plant, is a short-lived tender perennial from South and Central America, reaching two to five feet where it is hardy and rather less as an annual. It is grown entirely for its foliage: rounded leaves in deep beetroot red with bright pink or crimson veining, on stems of the same colour. The flowers are insignificant.

The leaf colour is the whole point and it depends on light, deepening in sun and washing out to a muddy bronze in shade. Pinch the growing tips regularly, because an unpinched plant runs up into a few bare-based stems, and take cuttings in late summer if you want the same colouring the following year.