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(Last Modified On 4/8/2013)
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(Last Modified On 4/8/2013)
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Species
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Plumbago auriculata Lam.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Encycl. 2: 270. 1786.-FIG. 1.
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Synonym
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Plumbago capensis Thunb., Prod. PI. Cap. 1: 33. 1794.
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Description
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Subshrubs to 2 m, sub-scandent. Leaves ovate-elliptic to spatulate, narrowed to the obtuse apex, gradually attentuate basally into a short petiole, 3-6(-9) cm long and 1-2 (-3) cm wide, glabrous, copiously calciferous-glandular below, the petioles auriculate basally, the auricles adnate to the stem, reniform or occasion- ally as long as wide, 3-6 mm wide and 2-3 mm long; the main stem leaves commonly with smaller leaves fasciculate in the axils. Inflorescences densely- flowered racemes, 2-6 cm long, the rachis pubescent, the bracts and bracteoles puberulent, the bracts lanceolate, 5-7(-9) mm long. Flowers with pedicels ca. 1 mm long; calyx 1-1.3 cm long and 1-2' mm wide, puberulent, the teeth triangular, ca. 1 mm long, the ribs with stalked glands along the distal 1/? to 2/3; corolla showy, usually azure, occasionally white, the tube 2.7-4 cm long, the limb 2-2.5(-2.9) cm in diameter, the lobes broadly spatulate. Capsules slenderly elongate-ovoid, pentagonal, ca. 8 mm long, the apex obtuse; seed nearly filling the capsule, slightly 5-angled, grooved along one side, the funicular end acute and distinctly 5-angled, the base truncate, 6-7 mm long, black.
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Habit
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Subshrubs
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Distribution
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Native to South Africa, but widely cultivated, and naturalized in warmer regions; in our hemisphere occurring outside of cultivation at least in Florida, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Venezuela, and Paraguay.
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Specimen
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VERAGUAS: Cafiazas, Tyson 3649 (MO).
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Note
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This species has long been recognized and cultivated under the name Plum- bago capensis Thunb. However, after examining the type of Plumbago auriculata Lam., C. E. Wood, Jr. (Baileya 16: 137. 1968) has determined that P. auric- ulata is the correct name for the species. Due to the paucity of Panamanian material, the above description, with the exception of fruit and seed, is also based on Mexican and Central American material. The fruit and seed description are from an African collection [SOUTH AFRICA: Uitenhaag District, Ecklon & Zeyher s.n. (MO)]. Except that the African and some of the Mexican specimens tend to be more woody, there is ample correspondence between them and the Panamanian specimen.
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