Plumbago

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

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

Familia: Plumbaginaceae
Subfamilia: Plumbaginoideae
Genus: Plumbago
Species: P. amplexicaulis – P. aphylla – P. auriculata – P. ciliata – P. caerulea – P. dawei – P. europaea – P. glandulicaulis – P. hunsbergensis – P. indica – P. ituriensis – P. juncea – P. lanceolata – P. madagascariensis – P. montis-elgonis – P. pearsonii – P. pulchella – P. stenophylla – P. toxicaria – P. tristis – P. wissii – P. zeylanica
Name

Plumbago L., Sp. Pl. 1: 151 (1753)

Typus: Plumbago europaea L. Sp. Pl. 1: 151 (1753)

Synonyms

Heterotypic
Thela Lour., Fl. Cochinch. 119. (1790)
Molubda Raf., Sylva Tellur. 123. (1838)
Plumbagidium Spach, Hist. Nat. Vég. (Spach) 10: 338. (1841)
Plumbago sect. Plumbagidium (Spach) Pax, Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 4(1) (1889)

Notes

Not traced: Plumbago cocanex Hort. ex Gentil, Pl. Cult. Serres Jard. Bot. Brux. 157. 1907, nomen.
References

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 151.
Farr, E. R. & Zijlstra, G. eds. (1996-) Index Nominum Genericorum (Plantarum). 2010 Sept 23 [1].
Hassler, M. 2027. Plumbago. 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. 2009. Plumbago. Published online. Accessed: 23 Feb. 2009.
Tropicos.org 2017. Plumbago. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2017 Apr. 30.

Vernacular names
Deutsch: Bleiwurz
English: Leadwort, Plumbago
suomi: Lyijykukat
հայերեն: Արճճախոտ, արդղիկ, արդուխա, շեթարաճ
polski: Ołownik
svenska: Blyblomssläktet

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 Ceratostigma).

Description
Plumbago indica
Plumbago zeylanica

The species include herbaceous plants and shrubs growing to 0.5–2 m (1.6–6.6 ft) tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, entire, 0.5–12 cm (0.20–4.72 in) 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.[2]

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.[3]
Taxonomy

The generic name, derived from the Latin words plumbum ("lead") and agere ("to resemble"), was first used by Pliny the Elder (23-79) for a plant known as μολύβδαινα (molybdaina) to Pedanius Dioscorides (ca. 40-90).[4][5][6] This may have referred to its lead-blue flower colour , the ability of the sap to create lead-colored stains on skin,[7] or Pliny's belief that the plant was a cure for lead poisoning.[8]

The following species are accepted by The Plant List:[9]

Plumbago amplexicaulis Oliv.
Plumbago aphylla Bojer ex Boiss.
Plumbago auriculata 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 L.

See also

Plumbagin

References

"Plumbago L." Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2002-01-02. Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2010-01-29.
Schlauer, Jan (1997). ""New" data relating to the evolution and phylogeny of some carnivorous plant families". Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. International Carnivorous Plant Society. 26 (2): 34–38.
Doug Caldwell. New thrips found on Plumbago (PDF). Collier County Extension, University of Florida & Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. 3 M-Q. CRC Press. p. 2117. ISBN 978-0-8493-2677-6.
Austin, Daniel F. (2004). Florida Ethnobotany. CRC Press. pp. 527–528. ISBN 978-0-8493-2332-4.
μολύβδαινα. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
Schmelzer, G.H.; A. Gurib-Fakim (2008). Medicinal Plants. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. p. 427. ISBN 978-90-5782-204-9.
Burke, Don (2005). The Complete Burke's Backyard: the Ultimate Book of Fact Sheets. Murdoch Books. p. 268. ISBN 978-1-74045-739-2.
"Plumbago". The Plant List. Retrieved 31 March 2017.