Ceratostigma

Ceratostigma
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Plumbaginaceae
Subfamily:	Plumbaginoideae
Genus:	Ceratostigma Bunge
Species
See text
Synonyms
Valoradia Hochst.

Ceratostigma (pronounced /ˌsɛrətɵˈstɪɡmə/,^[1] from the Greek Κερατόστιγμα), or Leadwort, Plumbago, is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Common names are shared with the genus Plumbago.

They are herbaceous plants, subshrubs, or small shrubs growing to 0.3–1 m (0.98–3.3 ft) tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, simple, 1-9 cm long, usually with a hairy margin. Some of the species are evergreen, others deciduous. The flowers 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 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 willmottiana Stapf

Cultivation and uses

C. plumbaginoides and C. willmottianum^[2] are grown as ornamental plants in gardens for their pale blue flowers and red autumn foliage.

References

• Flora of China: Ceratostigma
• Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan.

1. ^ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
2. ^ Named to honour Ellen Willmott.