Florida has its own native plumbago (leadwort) species, and while it’s not as showy as the non-native blue plumbago, it certainly deserves more attention. Like its showier cousin, Wild Plumbago is a host plant for tiny Cassius blue butterflies, and its flowers are mainly pollinated by butterflies. As a native plant, it deserves a place in the Florida butterfly garden, as well as any native or wildflower garden.
This evergreen grows to about 1' tall and 3-4' wide making it a great ground cover in part shade to shady conditions. It also works well as an understory plant. The blooms are white and the Cassius blue typically lays her eggs on the unopened buds. It is difficult to find their caterpillars as they are quite tiny and do not consume noticeable amounts of the plant like other butterfly species' caterpillars do.