Plant of the week: Plumbago

Name: Plumbago (Plumbago Europaea)

Otherwise known as: Common Leadwort, Dentallaria

Habitat: A perennial climbing shrub member of the Plumbaginaceae family, growing up to 4m in well-drained soil and native to the southern Mediterranean. The plant displays alternate, sessile leaves on sturdy stems and produces racemes of white, blue or purple flowers for most of the year. The calyx issues a gum-like substance that is fatal to crawling, non-pollinating insects. All aerial parts of the plant are toxic and will cause severe dermatitis.

What does it do: There are approximately 20 varieties of Plumbago, which takes its name from the Latin ‘Plumbum’: lead. Pliny suggested it was cure for lead poisoning which was a scourge in Roman cities. The plant contains naphthaquinones such as plumbagin and sliptinone that render it abortifacient, antifungal, antibacterial and anti-tumour. In France the root is steeped in olive oil by country folk and used to combat dental abscesses; hence the common name Dentallaria. The same preparation was employed to combat haemorrhoids and the anal itch. Southern Europeans made a decoction from the stem root and leaf to absorb effusions of fluid in joints in cases of gout and housemaid’s knee.

An Asian species, P. zeylanica, similarly toxic, features prominently in Ayurvedic medicine, being used to treat a wide range of ailments. Even though the plant is recognised as a vesicant (causes severe blistering), it is commonly used to treat obstinate skin diseases such eczema and psoriasis. In the Pradesh region, Plumbago is a treatment for leprosy, and in Nepal the root is considered a cure for baldness and dysentery. There is some evidence that plumbagin has been involved in treating stomach cancer, dropsy (oedema) and elephantiasis.

Plumbago is one of the most popular hedging and wall covering plants in Cyprus and because of our climate will flower throughout most of the year, however, if it is not cut back to about 15cm in winter it will rapidly grow out of control and leave great tangles of dead bald stems.

 

 

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