Botanical Family · Caryophyllales

Plumbaginaceae

Leadwort Or The Plumbago Family

2 speciesOrder Caryophyllales2+ well-known plants

The Plumbaginaceae family (Leadwort Or The Plumbago Family) is a botanical family placed in the order Caryophyllales. In the SASYA catalogue it spans 2 species. Its members are predominantly undershrubs. Several members are valued in traditional medicine. Familiar examples include The Cape Leadwort and White Plumbago.

Browse all 2 species ↓

Representative specimen · Plumbaginaceae

Key pattern

Simple, often basal leaves on herbs and shrubs of dry or saline habitats; funnel-shaped flowers have a papery, often colourfully veined calyx that persists and stays showy long after the true petals inside have faded.

Several genera excrete excess salt through specialised glands on the leaf surface, letting them thrive in coastal and desert-saline habitats most other flowering plants cannot tolerate.

Identify the species

Which Plumbaginaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Plumbaginaceae species.

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Key TraitWhat single feature best distinguishes it?

Clusters of sky-blue flowers (Cape leadwort)

Clusters of white flowers with sticky glandular calyces

Family identification method

To check whether a plant belongs to Plumbaginaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.

Learn the full family-identification method

Notable members

The Cape Leadwort, Cape PlumbagoPlumbago auriculataWhite Plumbago, De Ceylon Lead Wort, Ceylon Leadwort, Lead Wort, White Leadwort, Wild PlumbagoPlumbago zeylanica

Families that can look similar

Amaranthaceae

Compare against Amaranthaceae when the plant shares similar leaves, flowers, or fruit. Confirm by checking the full family pattern.

Compare Amaranthaceae

Cactaceae

Compare against Cactaceae when the plant shares similar leaves, flowers, or fruit. Confirm by checking the full family pattern.

Compare Cactaceae

Polygonaceae

Compare against Polygonaceae when the plant shares similar leaves, flowers, or fruit. Confirm by checking the full family pattern.

Compare Polygonaceae

Aizoaceae

Compare against Aizoaceae when the plant shares similar leaves, flowers, or fruit. Confirm by checking the full family pattern.

Compare Aizoaceae

All 2 species in PLUMBAGINACEAE

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