Plumbaginaceae

Whorled plantain

Plumbago indica L.

Family: Plumbaginaceae
Genus: Plumbago

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Whorled plantain (Plumbago indica) — Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons

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Common names

By language (5)

Burmese: ကန့်ချုပ်နီ
Chinese: 紫花丹, 紫花藤, 紫雪花, 红花丹, 谢三娘
English: Whorled plantain, Indian leadwort, Scarlet leadwort
Finnish: Mönjäkukka
shn: ပိတ်းပီႇလႅင်

Synonyms

Plumbagidium roseum (L.) Spach
Plumbago coccinea Salisb.
Plumbago rosea L.
Plumbago rosea var. coccinea (Lour.) Hook.
Plumbago zeylanica var. rosea (L.) Williams
Thela coccinea Lour.

Flowers

In flower: November to February (from 18 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Shrub, Vine
Lifespan: Perennial
In the US and Canada: Puerto Rico: introduced

Photos

Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Ameet Mandavia, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Ravuri Krishna Chaitanya, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Sabarni Sarker, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: deepachandran, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: sunnyjosef, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Vengolis, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Sindhu Haridas, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist

More in Plumbago

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.