"Puce" is a real color. The most interesting description I've come across is this one:
"Puce literally means 'flea'. It is speculated that it refers to the colour of a squashed flea or the colour of a flea full of blood. Another theory is that the colour name comes from the flea's droppings of digested blood, which spread out in deep red stain when water contacts them. Brownish-purple to dark brown."