Plumbago

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Plumbago
Plumbago.jpg
Plumbago auriculata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Plumbaginaceae
Genus: Plumbago
Tourn. ex L. (1753)
Type species
Plumbago europaea
L.
Species [1]

23; see text

Synonyms [1]
  • DyerophytumKuntze (1891)
  • FindlayaBowdich (1825)
  • MolubdaRaf. (1838)
  • PlumbagidiumSpach (1841)
  • ThelaLour. (1790)
  • VogeliaLam. (1792), nom. illeg.

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 Ceratostigma ).

Contents

Description

Plumbago indica Plumbago rosea01.jpg
Plumbago indica
Plumbago zeylanica Plumbago zeylanica1MTFL.jpg
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[ citation needed ], 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]

Species

Plants of the World Online accepts 23 species. [1]

ImageNameDistribution
Dyerophytum africanum1 (3).JPG Plumbago africana (Lam.) Christenh. & Byng}southwestern Angola, Namibia, and Cape Provinces of South Africa
Plumbago amplexicaulis Oliv.Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique
Plumbagoaphylla.jpg Plumbago aphylla Bojer ex Boiss.Madagascar, Tanzania (Mbudya Island), Aldabra, Europa Island
Dyerophytum indicum kz02.jpg Plumbago arabica (Boiss.) Christenh. & Byng}eastern Arabian Peninsula and western and central India
Plumbago auriculata (Italy).jpg Plumbago auriculata Lam.Mozambique and South Africa
Plumbago caerulea Kunthnorthwestern Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, northern and central Chile, and northern Argentina
Plumbago ciliata Engl. ex Wilmot-Dearsouthern Tanzania
Plumbago dawei Rolfesouthwestern Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Madagascar
Dentelaria -Plumbago europaea (10247210236).jpg Plumbago europaea L.Mediterranean to Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, and Turkmenistan
Plumbago glandulicaulis Wilmot-Dearnorthern Tanzania
Plumbago hunsbergensis van Jaarsv., Swanepoel & A.E.van Wyk}Namibia
Plumbago indica 112.jpg Plumbago indica L.Indian subcontinent, Indochina, south-central China, Hainan, Philippines, Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi
Plumbago ituriensis Ntore}Democratic Republic of the Congo
Plumbago madagascariensis M. PeltierMadagascar
Plumbago montis-elgonis Bullocksouthwestern Ethiopia, Kenya, and northwestern Tanzania
Plumbago pearsonii L. BolusNamibia (Naukluft Mountains)
Plumbago pendula (Balf.f.) Christenh. & Byngnorth-central Socotra
Plumbago pulchella Boiss.Mexico
Plumbago socotrana (Balf.f.) ined.Socotra
Plumbago stenophylla Wilmot-Dearsoutheastern Kenya
Plumbago tristis 1DS-II 3-6044.jpg Plumbago tristis Aitonsouthwestern Cape Provinces
Plumbago wissii 1DS-II 1-C5622.jpg Plumbago wissii Friedr.Namibia (Brandberg)
Plumbago zeylanica 5Dsr 1-1656.jpg Plumbago zeylanica L.tropical and subtropical Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Indian subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, Malesia, New Guinea, and northern and eastern Australia

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Plumbago Tourn. ex L." Plants of the World Online . Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  2. ↑ Schlauer, Jan (1997). ""New" data relating to the evolution and phylogeny of some carnivorous plant families". Carnivorous Plant Newsletter. 26 (2). International Carnivorous Plant Society: 34–38. doi: 10.55360/cpn262.js506 . S2CID   254773038.
  3. ↑ Doug Caldwell. New thrips found on Plumbago (PDF). Collier County Extension, University of Florida & Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
  4. ↑ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names. Vol. 3 M-Q. CRC Press. p. 2117. ISBN   978-0-8493-2677-6.
  5. ↑ Austin, Daniel F. (2004). Florida Ethnobotany. CRC Press. pp. 527–528. ISBN   978-0-8493-2332-4.
  6. ↑ μολύβδαινα . Liddell, Henry George ; Scott, Robert ; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  7. ↑ Schmelzer, G.H.; A. Gurib-Fakim (2008). Medicinal Plants. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. p. 427. ISBN   978-90-5782-204-9.
  8. ↑ Burke, Don (2005). The Complete Burke's Backyard: the Ultimate Book of Fact Sheets. Murdoch Books. p. 268. ISBN   978-1-74045-739-2.
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