Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Mediterranean shrubland
Range: Southern Africa
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Blue plumbago is a sprawling South African shrub prized for its long-blooming clusters of sky-blue, five-petalled flowers. Each bloom tube is coated in sticky glands that trap insects, an adaptation thought to deter crawling pests from reaching the flowers.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Plumbaginaceae
Genus: Plumbago
Species: Plumbago auriculata