plumbago

noun (plural plumbagos)

• 1old-fashioned term for graphite.

  [ early 17th century (denoting an ore such as galena containing lead): from Latin, from plumbum 'lead'. The sense 'graphite' arose through its use for pencil leads]

• 2an evergreen flowering shrub or climber which is widely distributed in warm regions and grown elsewhere as a greenhouse or indoor plant. Also called leadwort.

  [named from the colour of the flowers]

  • Genus Plumbago, family Plumbaginaceae