''Ceratostigma willmottianum'', Chinese plumbago, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort family or the plumbago family. Most species in this family are perennial herbaceous plants, but a few grow as ...

that is native to western China and Tibet. It is an ornamental deciduous shrub that grows to 1 metre in height, with pale blue

plumbago ''Plumbago'' is a genus of 10–20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus '' Cerat ...

-like flowers appearing in autumn as the leaves start to turn red.

Etymology

''Ceratostigma'' is derived from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

, meaning 'horned stigma’. This is in reference to the ‘shape of the stigmatic surface’.Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 99, 407 The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''willmottianum'' was named for Miss

Ellen Ann Willmott Ellen Ann Willmott (19 August 1858 – 27 September 1934) was an English horticulturist. She was an influential member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and a recipient of the first Victoria Medal of Honour, awarded to British horticulturists ...

(1858-1934), a keen gardener and plant introducer from Warley Place, Essex, UK.

Cultivation

''Ceratostigma willmottianum'' is cultivated as a garden plant, valued for its late season red leaves and rich blue flowers. Both the species and the

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

= 'Lice' have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established annual award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. History The Award of Garden Merit ...

. There is also a cultivar with yellow foliage, = 'Palmgold'.

References

willmottianum Flora of China Flora of Tibet {{Caryophyllales-stub