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{{Plantbox
| color = IndianRed
| name = ''Plumbago''
| image = Plumbago.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = ''Plumbago auriculata''
}}
'''''Plumbago''''' is a genus of 10-20 species of [[flowering plant]]s in the family [[Plumbaginaceae]]. '''Plumbago''' and '''leadwort''' (names which are also used by the genus ''[[Ceratostigma]]'') are the most popular common names.
[[Image:Plumbago rosea01.jpg|left|thumb|''Plumbago indica'']]
[[Image:Plumbago_zeylanica1MTFL.jpg|left|thumb|''Plumbago zeylanica'']]
The species include [[herbaceous]] plants and [[shrub]]s which grow to 0.5-2 m tall. The [[leaf|leaves]] are arranged spirally, simple, entire, 0.5-12 cm long, have a tapered base and often a hairy margin. [[Flower]]s can be white, blue, purple, red, or pink, with a tubular corolla and 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. The purpose of this secretion is not clear.
;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]].
==Cultivation==
==Propagation==
==Pests and diseases==
==Uses==
==History==
==Taxonomy==
{{Taxbox
| color = IndianRed
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Caryophyllales]]
| familia = [[Plumbaginaceae]]
| genus = '''''Plumbago'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision = See text
}}
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).
==Distribution and habitat==
Native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world.
==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]).