Plumbaginaceae is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution

Cosmopolitan distribution

In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...

. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort family or the plumbago family.

Most species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in this family are perennial

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...

 herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

 plants, but a few grow as liana

Liana

A liana is any of various long-stemmed, woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist deciduous...

s or shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s. The plants have perfect flowers and are pollinated by insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s. They are found in many different climatic regions, from arctic to tropical conditions, but are particularly associated with salt

Sodium chloride

Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...

-rich steppes, marshes, and sea coasts.

The family has been recognized by most taxonomists. The APG II system

APG II system

The APG II system of plant classification is the second, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in April 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was a revision of the first APG system, published in 1998, and was superseded in 2009...

 (2003; unchanged from the APG system

APG system

The APG system of plant classification is the first, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was superseded in 2003 by a revision, the APG II system, and then in 2009 by a further...

 of 1998), recognizes this family and assigns it to the order Caryophyllales

Caryophyllales

Caryophyllales is an order of flowering plants that includes the cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, and many carnivorous plants. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves.-Description:...

 in the clade core eudicots. It includes 24 genera and about 800 species.

The 1981 Cronquist system

Cronquist system

The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in his texts An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants and The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants .Cronquist's system places flowering plants into two...

 placed the family in a separate order Plumbaginales

Plumbaginales

Plumbaginales is an order of flowering plants. The order is recognized by several systems, such as the Wettstein system, last revised in 1935, the Engler system, in its update of 1964 and the Cronquist system, 1981. Its circumscription is typically:...

, which included no other families. The Dahlgren system

Dahlgren system

One of the modern systems of plant taxonomy, the Dahlgren system was published by monocot specialist Rolf Dahlgren. His wife Gertrud Dahlgren carried on after his death.According to the extensive listing by Professor Reveal One of the modern systems of plant taxonomy, the Dahlgren system was...

 had segregated some of these plants as family Limoniaceae.

Genera

• Acantholimon
  Acantholimon
  Acantholimon is a genus of small flowering plants within the plumbago or leadwort family, Plumbaginaceae. They are distributed from southeastern Europe to central Asia and also in South America, but also cultivated elsewhere in rock gardens.-Species:Species of Acantholimon include:*Acantholimon...
  
  
• Aegialitis
  Aegialitis
  Aegialitis is a genus of two shrubby mangrove species, with one native to Southeast Asia and the other native to Australia and Papua New Guinea.- Description :...
  
  
• Armeria
  Armeria
  Armeria is the botanical name for a genus of flowering plants. These plants are sometimes known as "thrift" or as the "sea pinks" as they are often found on coastlines...
  
  , the thrifts or seapinks
• Bamiana
• Buciniczea
• Cephalorhizum
• Ceratostigma
  Ceratostigma
  Ceratostigma , or Leadwort, Plumbago, is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. Common names are shared with the genus Plumbago....
  
  , the leadwort
  Leadwort
  Leadwort is a common name for flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, in particular those in the genera:*Ceratostigma*Plumbago...
  
  s
• Chaetolimon
• Dictyolimon
• Dyerophytum
• Eremolimon
• Ghasnianthus
• Goniolimon
• Ikonnikovia
• Limoniastrum
• Limoniopsis
• Limonium (syn. Statice), the sealavenders
• Muellerolimon
  Muellerolimon
  Muellerolimon salicorniaceum, the sole species in genus Muellerolimon, is a succulent perennial herb or shrub that grows on salt mudflats in Western Australia.-Description:...
  
  
• Neogontscharovia
• Plumbagella
• Plumbago
  Plumbago
  Plumbago is a genus of 10-20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort...
  
  , the leadwort
  Leadwort
  Leadwort is a common name for flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, in particular those in the genera:*Ceratostigma*Plumbago...
  
  s or plumbagos
• Popoviolimon
• Psylliostachys
• Vassilczenkoa

Cultivation and uses

Chalk glands are found in this family.The family includes a number of popular garden

Gardening

Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...

species, which are grown for their attractive flowers.