''Plumbago'' is a genus of 10–20 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 t ...

s 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 ...

, native to warm

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus ''

Ceratostigma ''Ceratostigma'' (;), or leadwort, plumbago, is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Common names are shared with the genus ''Plumbago''. De ...

'').

Description

The species include

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

s and

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from tree ...

s growing to tall. The

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

are spirally arranged, simple, entire, long, with a tapered base and often with a hairy margin. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanis ...

s are white, blue, purple, red, or pink, with a tubular

corolla Corolla may refer to: *Corolla (botany), the petals of a flower, considered as a unit *Toyota Corolla, an automobile model name *Corolla (headgear) A ''corolla'' is an ancient headdress in the form of a small circlet or crown.petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...

-like lobes; they are produced in

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s. The flower

calyx Calyx or calyce (plural "calyces"), from the Latin ''calix'' which itself comes from the Ancient Greek ''κάλυξ'' (''kálux'') meaning "husk" or "pod", may refer to: Biology * Calyx (anatomy), collective name for several cup-like structures ...

has glandular

trichome Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a p ...

s (hairs), which secrete a sticky

mucilage Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion. The direction of their movement is always opposite to that of the secretion of m ...

that is capable of trapping and killing

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

s; it is unclear what the purpose of these trichomes is; protection from

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an Stamen, anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by Anemophily, wind. Pollinating agents can ...

by way of "crawlers" ( ants and other insects that typically do not transfer pollen between individual plants), or possible protocarnivory. Mature plumbago leaves often have a whitish residue on their undersides, a feature that can confuse gardeners. While this white material resembles a

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant diseases to identify, a ...

disease or a chemical spray deposit, it is actually a natural exudate from "chalk" glands that are found on the ''Plumbago'' species.

Taxonomy

The generic name, derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

words ''plumbum'' ("

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

") and ''agere'' ("to resemble"), was first used by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

(23-79) for a plant known as (''molybdaina'') to

Pedanius Dioscorides Pedanius Dioscorides ( grc-gre, Πεδάνιος Διοσκουρίδης, ; 40–90 AD), “the father of pharmacognosy”, was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of '' De materia medica'' (, On Medical Material) —a 5-vo ...

(ca. 40-90). This may have referred to its lead-blue flower colour, the ability of the sap to create lead-colored stains on skin, or Pliny's belief that the plant was a cure for

lead poisoning Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertil ...

. The following species are accepted by ''

The Plant List The Plant List was a list of botanical names of species of plants created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden and launched in 2010. It was intended to be a comprehensive record of all known names of plant species ...

'': *'' Plumbago amplexicaulis'' Oliv. *'' Plumbago aphylla'' Bojer ''ex'' Boiss. *''

Plumbago auriculata ''Plumbago auriculata'', the cape leadwort, blue plumbago or Cape plumbago, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to South Africa."Botanica. The Illustrated AZ of over 10000 garden plants and how to cultivate them" ...

'' Lam. *'' Plumbago ciliata'' Engl. ''ex'' Wilmot-Dear *'' Plumbago coerulea'' Kunth *'' Plumbago dawei'' Rolfe *'' Plumbago europaea'' L. *'' Plumbago glandulicaulis'' Wilmot-Dear *'' Plumbago indica'' L. *'' Plumbago madagascariensis'' M. Peltier *'' Plumbago montis-elgonis'' Bullock *'' Plumbago pearsonii'' L. Bolus *'' Plumbago pulchella'' Boiss. *'' Plumbago stenophylla'' Wilmot-Dear *'' Plumbago tristis'' Aiton *'' Plumbago wissii'' Friedr. *''

Plumbago zeylanica ''Plumbago zeylanica'', commonly known as Ceylon leadwort, doctorbush or wild leadwort, is a species of plumbago with a pantropical distribution. Carl Linnaeus described the paleotropical ''P. zeylanica'' and Neotropical ''P. scandens'' as separ ...

'' L.

Description

Taxonomy

See also