Plumbaginaceae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s, with a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort family or the plumbago family. Most

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in this family are

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbaceous 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 of ...

plants, but a few grow as

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s or

shrub A shrub or 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 trees by their multiple ...

s. The plants have perfect flowers and are pollinated by

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s. They are found in many different climatic regions, from arctic to tropical conditions, but are particularly associated with

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

-rich

steppes In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropical gr ...

, marshes, and sea coasts. The family has been recognized by most taxonomists. The

APG II system The APG II system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II system) of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly Molecular phylogenetics, molecular-based, list of systems of plant taxonomy, system of plant taxonomy that ...

(2003; unchanged from the

APG system The APG system (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system) of plant classification is the first version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy. Published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, it was replaced by the improved ...

of 1998), recognizes this family and assigns it to the order

Caryophyllales Caryophyllales ( ) is a diverse and heterogeneous order of flowering plants with well-known members including cacti, carnations, beets, quinoa, spinach, amaranths, pigfaces and ice plants, oraches and saltbushes, goosefoots, sundews, Venu ...

in the clade

core eudicots The eudicots or eudicotyledons are flowering plants that have two seed leaves (cotyledons) upon germination. The term derives from ''dicotyledon'' (etymologically, ''eu'' = true; ''di'' = two; ''cotyledon'' = seed leaf). Historically, authors h ...

. It includes 30 genera and about 725 species. The 1981

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a list of systems of plant taxonomy, taxonomic classification system of angiosperms, flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of ...

placed the family in a separate order

Plumbaginales Plumbaginales is an order of flowering plants. The order is recognized by several systems, such as the Wettstein system, last revised in 1935, the Engler system, in its update of 1964 and the Cronquist system, 1981. Its circumscription is typica ...

, which included no other families. The

Dahlgren system One of the modern systems of plant taxonomy, the Dahlgren system was published by monocot specialist Rolf Dahlgren in 1975 and revised in 1977, and 1980. However, he is best known for his two treatises on monocotyledons in 1982 and revised in 198 ...

had segregated some of these plants as family Limoniaceae.

Genera

21 genera are accepted. * ''

Acantholimon ''Acantholimon'' (prickly thrift) is a genus of small flowering plants within the plumbago or leadwort family, Plumbaginaceae. They are distributed from southeastern Europe to central Asia, and also cultivated elsewhere in rock gardens. Form The ...

'' * ''

Aegialitis ''Aegialitis'' is a genus of two shrubby mangrove species, with one native to Southeast Asia and the other native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. Description The two species of the genus are woody mangrove shrubs or small trees that grow u ...

'' * ''

Armeria ''Armeria'' is a genus of flowering plants. These plants are sometimes known as "lady's cushion", "thrift", or "sea pink" (the latter because as they are often found on coastlines). The genus counts over a hundred species, mostly native to the ...

'' , the thrifts or seapinks * ''

Bakerolimon ''Bakerolimon'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort fam ...

'' * ''

Bamiania ''Bamiania pachycorma'' is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae. It is a subshrub endemic to Bamyan Province of central Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked c ...

'' * ''

Bukiniczia ''Bukiniczia cabulica'' is a plant in the plumbago or leadwort family, Plumbaginaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus ''Bukiniczia''. It is a biennial native to Afghanistan and Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Rep ...

'' * ''

Cephalorhizum ''Cephalorhizum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort f ...

'' * ''

Ceratolimon ''Ceratolimon'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family (biology), family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort fami ...

'' * ''

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 ...

'' , the

leadwort Leadwort is a common name for various flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, in particular those in the genera: *''Ceratostigma'' *''Plumbago'' It can also refer to metallophyte plants capable of tolerating high levels of lead, such as spri ...

s * '' Dictyolimon'' * '' Goniolimon'' * '' Ikonnikovia'' * '' Limoniastrum'' * '' Limoniopsis'' * ''

Limonium ''Limonium'' is a genus of about 600 flowering plant species. Members are also known as sea-lavender, statice, caspia or marsh-rosemary. Despite their common names, species are not related to the lavenders or to rosemary. They are instead in Plu ...

'' (syn. ''Statice''), the sealavenders * '' Myriolimon'' * '' Muellerolimon'' , synonym of '' Goniolimon'' * '' Neogontscharovia'' * '' Plumbagella'' * ''

Plumbago ''Plumbago'' is a genus of 23 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 '' Ceratostig ...

'' , the

s or plumbagos * '' Psylliostachys'' * ''

Saharanthus ''Saharanthus'' is a monotypic genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae. The only species is ''Saharanthus ifniensis''. Its native range is Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory ...

Cultivation and uses

Chalk glands are found in this family. The family includes a number of popular

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

species, which are grown for their attractive flowers.

References

External links

*
Plumbaginaceae in Topwalks

links at CSDL, Texas
{{Authority control Caryophyllales families