Ceratostigma

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Caryophyllales

Familia: Plumbaginaceae
Subfamilia: Plumbaginoideae
Genus: Ceratostigma
Species: C. abyssinicum – C. asperrimum – C. griffithii – C. minus – C. plumbaginoides – C. stapfianum – C. ulicinum – C. willmottianum
Name

Ceratostigma Bunge, Enum. Pl. Chin. Bor. 55. (1833)

Type species: Ceratostigma plumbaginoides Bunge, Enum. Pl. Chin. Bor. 55. (1833)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Valoradia Hochst., Flora 25(1): 239. (1842)

Excluded or synonymous taxa

C. plantaginoides – C. speciosum
References

Bunge, A.A. von 1833. Enumeratio Plantarum, quas in China Boreali 55.
Hassler, M. 2027. Ceratostigma. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2027. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2027 Apr. 30. Reference page.
Hernández-Ledesma, P., Berendsohn, W. G., Borsch, T., Mering, S. v., Akhani, H., Arias, S., Castañeda-Noa, I., Eggli, U., Eriksson, R., Flores-Olvera, H., Fuentes-Bazán, S., Kadereit, G., Klak, C., Korotkova, N., Nyffeler R., Ocampo G., Ochoterena, H., Oxelman, B., Rabeler, R. K., Sanchez, A., Schlumpberger, B. O. & Uotila, P. 2015. A taxonomic backbone for the global synthesis of species diversity in the angiosperm order Caryophyllales. Willdenowia 45(3): 281–383. DOI: 10.3372/wi.45.45301 Open access Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2017. Ceratostigma. Published online. Accessed: Apr. 29 2017.
Tropicos.org 2017. Ceratostigma. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2017 Apr. 30.

Ceratostigma (/ˌsɛrətoʊˈstɪɡmə, sɪˌræt-/;[1][2]), 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.

They are flowering herbaceous plants, subshrubs, or small shrubs growing to 0.3–1 m (0.98–3.28 ft) tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, 1–9 cm long, usually with a hairy margin. Some of the species are evergreen, others deciduous. The flowers are produced in a compact inflorescence, each flower with a five-lobed corolla; flower colour varies from pale to dark blue to red-purple. The fruit is a small bristly capsule containing a single seed.
Selected species

Ceratostigma abyssinicum (Hochst.) Schwein. & Asch.
Ceratostigma griffithii C.B.Clarke
Ceratostigma minus Stapf ex Prain
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides (Bunge)
Ceratostigma ulicinum Prain
Ceratostigma willmottianum Stapf

Cultivation and uses

Plants of this genus are valued in the garden for their late summer flower colour and their autumn leaf colour. The following varieties have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017):[3]

C. plumbaginoides[4]
C. willmottianum[5][6]
C. willmottianum Forest Blue='Lice'[7]

References

Flora of China: Ceratostigma
Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan.

Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
"Pronunciation Guide". Fine Gardening. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
"AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 17. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
"RHS Plant Selector - Ceratostigma plumbaginoides". Retrieved 5 July 2020.
Named to honour Ellen Willmott.
"RHS Plant Selector - Ceratostigma willmottianum". Retrieved 5 July 2020.
"RHS Plant Selector - Ceratostigma willmottianum 'Forest Blue'". Retrieved 5 July 2020.