'A plot with data that contains dates.
Similar to the :func:`~matplotlib.pyplot.plot` command, except
the *x* or *y* (or both) data is considered to be dates, and the
axis is labeled accordingly.
*x* and/or *y* can be a sequence of dates represented as float
days since 0001-01-01 UTC.
Note if you are using custom date tickers and formatters, it
may be necessary to set the formatters/locators after the call
to :meth:`plot_date` since :meth:`plot_date` will set the
default tick locator to
:class:`matplotlib.dates.AutoDateLocator` (if the tick
locator is not already set to a
:class:`matplotlib.dates.DateLocator` instance) and the
default tick formatter to
:class:`matplotlib.dates.AutoDateFormatter` (if the tick
formatter is not already set to a
:class:`matplotlib.dates.DateFormatter` instance).
Parameters
fmt : string
The plot format string.
tz : [ *None* | timezone string | :class:`tzinfo` instance]
The time zone to use in labeling dates. If *None*, defaults to rc
value.
xdate : boolean
If *True*, the *x*-axis will be labeled with dates.
ydate : boolean
If *True*, the *y*-axis will be labeled with dates.
Returns
lines
See Also
matplotlib.dates : helper functions on dates
matplotlib.dates.date2num : how to convert dates to num
matplotlib.dates.num2date : how to convert num to dates
matplotlib.dates.drange : how floating point dates
Other Parameters
**kwargs :
Keyword arguments control the :class:`~matplotlib.lines.Line2D`
properties:
%(Line2D)s'

@_preprocess_data(replace_names=[u'x', u'y'], label_namer=u'y')
@docstring.dedent_interpd
def plot_date(self, x, y, fmt=u'o', tz=None, xdate=True, ydate=False, **kwargs):

    if (not self._hold):
        self.cla()
    if xdate:
        self.xaxis_date(tz)
    if ydate:
        self.yaxis_date(tz)
    ret = self.plot(x, y, fmt, **kwargs)
    self.autoscale_view()
    return ret
