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Plumbaginaceae
Plumbago
Plumbago auriculata
Holy wishes, devotion.
- Family
- Plumbaginaceae
- Genus
- Plumbago
- Native to
- South Africa
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer, Fall
- Type
- Evergreen shrub or sprawling vine
- Height
- 1–3 m
- Sunlight
- Full sun to part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low to moderate; drought-tolerant
- Hardiness
- 9–11
- Lifespan
- Long-lived shrub
Did you know
- Plumbago produces some of the truest powder-blue flowers found in any shrub — a soft, almost ethereal sky-blue.
- The genus name comes from the Latin plumbum (lead), because the plant was once thought to cure lead poisoning.
- The flowers have sticky glandular hairs that catch onto clothing or animal fur, helping disperse the sepals and seeds.
- It's one of the host plants for the rare cassius blue and marine blue butterflies in the southern US.
- In warm climates plumbago blooms almost year-round and can cover an entire fence or wall in a soft blue cloud.
Color meanings
Blue
Sky-clear love