NILA CHITRAK
listen about me
Plumbago auriculata Lam.
Classification:
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Angiospermae
Class: Dicotyledonae
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Plumbaginaceae
Genus: Plumbago
Species: auriculata
Scientific Name: Plumbago auriculata Lam.
Common Name-
English: Plumbago, Cape Leadwort
Marathi: Nila chitrak
Hindi: Nilachitrak नीला चित्रक
Kannada: ನೀಲಿಚಿತ್ರಮೂಲ Neeli chitramula
Manipuri: Telhidak
Distribution: Native to South Africa, it extends from the Southern Cape region to Eastern
Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. It can also be found in Gauteng and the adjoining areas of Free
State and the North West Province.
Description:
Habit & Habitat: Plumbago auriculata is an evergreen shrub, often grown as a climber,
ascending rapidly to 6 m (20 ft) tall by 3 m (10 ft) wide in nature, though much smaller when cultivated as a houseplant.
Leaves: The leaves are a glossy green and grow to 5 cm (2 in) long. The stems are long,thin, and climbing. The leaves alternate and are 2–5 cm.
Flowers: The corolla with five petal-like lobes is about 2 cm wide and can be pale blue, blue or violet in color. There also variations with white (P. auriculata var. alba) or deep
blue (P. auriculata &Royal Cape) flowers. The flowers are complete and bisexual, and are arranged in corymb-like racemes.
The sepals and petals are connate while the pistil is adnate. The ovary of the flower is superior and the flower has regularsymmetry. It has basal placentation, with 1 locule and 5 carpels. It flowers mostly in the
summer, but in the right conditions it can bloom year-round.