Plumbago 3986076 204023796 2008-04-07T17:14:38Z Dysmorodrepanis 303688 {{otheruses}} {{Taxobox | name = ''Plumbago'' | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | image = Plumbago.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = ''Plumbago auriculata'' | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]] | ordo = [[Caryophyllales]] | familia = [[Plumbaginaceae]] | genus = '''''Plumbago''''' | genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]] | subdivision_ranks = [[Species]] | subdivision = See text }} '''''Plumbago''''' is a genus of 10-20 species of [[flowering plant]]s 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]]''). The name ''Plumbago'' is derived from [[Latin]] ''plumbum'' ("lead"), either from the lead-blue flower colour of some species ([[OED]]), or from the plant at one time being a supposed cure for [[lead]] poisoning (Huxley 1992). [[Image:Plumbago rosea01.jpg|left|thumb|''Plumbago indica'']] [[Image:Plumbago_zeylanica1MTFL.jpg|left|thumb|''Plumbago zeylanica'']] The species include [[herbaceous]] plants and [[shrub]]s growing to 0.5-2 m tall. The [[leaf|leaves]] are spirally arranged, simple, entire, 0.5-12 cm long, with a tapered base and often with a hairy margin. The [[flower]]s are white, blue, purple, red, or pink, with a tubular corolla with five petal-like lobes; they are produced in [[raceme]]s. The flower [[sepal|calyx]] has glandular hairs, which secrete a sticky mucilage that is capable of trapping and killing insects; it is unclear what the purpose of these hairs is; protection from [[pollination]] by way of "crawlers" (ants and other insects that typically do not transfer pollen between individual plants), or possible [[carnivorous plant|subcarnivory]] (Schlauer 1997). ;Selected species *''[[Plumbago aphylla]]'' Bojer ex Boiss. Madagascar region. *''[[Plumbago auriculata]]'' Lam. (syn. ''P. capensis''). '''Cape Leadwort'''. South Africa. *''[[Plumbago caerulea]]'' Humboldt, Bonpl. & Kunth (syn. ''P. coerulea''). Western South America (northern Chile to Colombia). *''[[Plumbago europaea]]'' L. '''Common Leadwort'''. Mediterranean region to central Asia. *''[[Plumbago indica]]'' L. (syn. ''P. rosea''). Southeast Asia. *''[[Plumbago pulchella]]'' Boiss. Mexico. *''[[Plumbago scandens]]'' L. '''Summer Snow Leadwort'''. Southern United States south to northern South America; sometimes included in ''P. zeylanica''. *''[[Plumbago wissii]]'' *''[[Plumbago zeylanica]]'' L. '''‘ilie‘e''' ([[Hawaiian islands]]) Southeast Asia south to Australia and into [[Pacific]]. ==References== [[Image:Plumbago, Cape Leadwort (Plumbago auriculata).jpg|thumb|right|260px|Cape Leadwort (''Plumbago auriculata'')]] *[http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?9608 Germplasm Resources Information Network: ''Plumbago''] *[http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/FloraData/060/PDF/V06/Volume6-Plumbago.pdf Flora of Chile: ''Plumbago''] (pdf file) *[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=126108 Flora of China: ''Plumbago''] *[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=201&taxon_id=126108 Flora of Ecuador: ''Plumbago''] *[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Plumbago&SPECIES_XREF=&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Plumbago''] *[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=126108 Flora of North America: ''Plumbago''] *[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=126108 Flora of Pakistan: ''Plumbago''] *Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan. *Schlauer, J. (1997). "New" data relating to the evolution and phylogeny of some carnivorous plant families. ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' 26(2): 34-38 (available [http://www.carnivorousplants.org/cpn/samples/Science262Evol.htm online]). {{CarnivorousPlants}} [[Category:Plumbago]] [[fr:Plumbago]] [[it:Plumbago]] [[ml:കൊടുവേലി]] [[pt:Plumbago]]