Talk:Plumbago

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[edit] Latin name meaning?

From what I can recall from college, "Plumbago" refers to the blue flowers, not a cure for lead poisoning (lead poisoning was not known of until much more recently!) SB Johnny 16:36, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

I wondered about that, too. This article is likely the source of that information. I've also found other references to "Plumbago" as being a term for "Blacklead." I don't know what the ultimate source of that information is... I'll do some digging and see what else I find. Thanks for bringing this up! -Rkitko 00:59, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

OED derives the name from the colour of the flowers, but as the name dates back to Classical Latin at least, that may be uncertain. The lead poisoning cure may be a later idea, perhaps developed from the doctrine of signatures - MPF 11:38, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

I won't be spending time looking this us, but lead has been historically used to make blue in alchemy, etc. SB Johnny 11:43, 14 June 2006 (UTC)