Plumbago

Plumbago is a genus of 24 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 Ceratostigma).

Description

The species include herbaceous plants and shrubs growing to tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, entire, long, with a tapered base and often with a hairy margin. The flowers are white, blue, purple, red, or pink, with a tubular corolla with five petal-like lobes; they are produced in racemes.

The flower calyx has glandular trichomes (hairs), which secrete a sticky mucilage that is capable of trapping and killing insects; it is unclear what the purpose of these trichomes is; protection from pollination 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 disease or a chemical spray deposit, it is actually a natural exudate from "chalk" glands that are found on the Plumbago species.

Nomenclature The generic name is from the Latin plant name , 'leadwort' (also 'graphite' or 'lead-color'), derived from the word , 'lead', was first used by Pliny the Elder (23–79) for a plant known as (molybdaina) to Pedanius Dioscorides (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.

Species Plants of the World Online accepts 24 species. Image Name Distribution Plumbago africana } Southwestern Angola, Namibia, and the Cape Provinces of South Africa Plumbago amplexicaulis Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, and MozambiquePlumbago aphylla Madagascar, Tanzania (Mbudya Island), Aldabra, Europa IslandPlumbago arabica } Eastern Arabian Peninsula and western and central IndiaPlumbago auriculata Mozambique and South Africa Plumbago caerulea Northwestern Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, northern and central Chile, and northern Argentina Plumbago ciliata Southern Tanzania Plumbago dawei Southwestern Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and MadagascarPlumbago europaea Mediterranean to Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, and Turkmenistan Plumbago glandulicaulis Northern Tanzania Plumbago hunsbergensis } NamibiaPlumbago indica Indian subcontinent, Indochina, south-central China, Hainan, Philippines, Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi Plumbago ituriensis } Democratic Republic of the Congo Plumbago madagascariensis Madagascar Plumbago micrantha Central Asia to Tibet, northern China, Mongolia, and eastern Siberia Plumbago montis-elgonis Southwestern Ethiopia, Kenya, and northwestern Tanzania Plumbago pearsonii Namibia (Naukluft Mountains) Plumbago pendula North-central Socotra Plumbago pulchella Mexico Plumbago socotrana Socotra Plumbago stenophylla Southeastern KenyaPlumbago tristis Southwestern Cape Provinces (South Africa)Plumbago wissii Namibia (Brandberg)Plumbago zeylanica Tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Indian subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, Malesia, New Guinea, and northern and eastern Australia

Plumbago

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