Persian Shield, Strobilanthes dyeranus.

Here is a link that might be useful: Strobilanthes

Hi. You have Persian shield, Strobilanthes dyerianus.

I have written extensively about this plant in this thread (scroll down to where it turns into a Persian shield discussion) and this one.

In the sales lady's defense, these are related to Coleus and grow very similarly. Although more cold hardy than Coleus, that doesn't really matter to someone in zone 7. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or post in one of those threads.

The connection is higher up in the classification. Is it a blunder to call them related in that situation? (Throwing the sales lady back under the bus if so...)

May i know the cost of this plant for collectors?..

They are inexpensive. They aren't rare. You can get a plant for $7. Who would be collecting them? Just Google 'buy Strobilanthus'.