Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Plumbago zeylanica L.

plumbago, jazmín del cabo, ciricua, hoja del alacrán, ceylon lead root, wild leadwort, lautafifi

A low-growing plant with a creeping growth form. The leaves range in color from intense green with red edges to red with markings in red and purple. The small star-shaped flowers occur on flower spikes.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Caryophyllales

Family
Plumbaginaceae

Genus
Plumbago

Species
zeylanica

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Plumbago scandens L. fide Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & Missouri Botanical Garden (2010)

Origin: Native

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

References

  • Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
  • Atkinson, R. Guézou, A. & Jaramillo, P. (2009) Siémbrame en tu jardín - Plantas nativas para jardines en Galápagos. Fundación Charles Darwin, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador, 151 pp.
  • Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
  • Hooker, J.D. (1847) An Enumeration of the Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago; with descriptions of those which are new. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20: 163-233.
  • Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
  • Robinson, B.L. (1902) Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapgaos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38(4): 78-270.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Missouri Botanical Garden (eds.) (2013) The Plant List, Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 1st January).
  • Schofield, E.K. (1971) Field Guide to Some Common Galápagos Plants. Lindblad Travel, Inc., NY: 1-42.
  • Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
  • Svenson, H.K. (1935) Plants of the Astor Expedition, 1930 (Galapagos and Cocos Islands). Am. J. Bot. 22: 208-277.
  • Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
  • Van der Werff, H.H. (s.a.) Pers. obs. and colls. Personal observations and collections.
  • Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Plumbago zeylanica", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=16541. Accessed 3 April 2026.