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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = ''Ceratostigma''
| image = Ceratostigma plumbaginoides0.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Caryophyllales]]
| familia = [[Plumbaginaceae]]
| genus = '''''Ceratostigma'''''
| genus_authority = Bunge
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}

'''''Ceratostigma''''' ('''Leadwort''') (from the Greek word "Κερατόστιγμα") is a genus of eight species of [[flowering plant]]s in the family [[Plumbaginaceae]], native to warm temperate to tropical regions of [[Africa]] and [[Asia]].

They are [[herbaceous]] plants, [[subshrub]]s, or small [[shrub]]s growing to 0.3-1 m tall. The [[leaf|leaves]] are spirally arranged, simple, 1-9 cm long, usually with a hairy margin. Some of the species are [[evergreen]], others [[deciduous]]. The [[flower]]s 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 (fruit)|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===
''C. plumbaginoides'' is grown as an [[ornamental plant]] in gardens for its pale blue flowers and bright red autumn leaves.

==References==
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=106206 Flora of China: ''Ceratostigma'']
*Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan.

[[Category:Plumbaginaceae]]
{{Caryophyllales-stub}}
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