rmat string. For details, see the corresponding
            parameter in `.plot`.

        tz : timezone string or `datetime.tzinfo`, default: :rc:`timezone`
            The time zone to use in labeling dates.

        xdate : bool, default: True
            If *True*, the *x*-axis will be interpreted as Matplotlib dates.

        ydate : bool, default: False
            If *True*, the *y*-axis will be interpreted as Matplotlib dates.

        Returns
        -------
        list of `.Line2D`
            Objects representing the plotted data.

        Other Parameters
        ----------------
        data : indexable object, optional
            DATA_PARAMETER_PLACEHOLDER
        **kwargs
            Keyword arguments control the `.Line2D` properties:

            %(Line2D:kwdoc)s

        See Also
        --------
        matplotlib.dates : Helper functions on dates.
        matplotlib.dates.date2num : Convert dates to num.
        matplotlib.dates.num2date : Convert num to dates.
        matplotlib.dates.drange : Create an equally spaced sequence of dates.

        Notes
        -----
        If you are using custom date tickers and formatters, it may be
        necessary to set the formatters/locators after the call to
        `.plot_date`. `.plot_date` will set the default tick locator to
        `.AutoDateLocator` (if the tick locator is not already set to a
        `.DateLocator` instance) and the default tick formatter to
        `.AutoDateFormatter` (if the tick formatter is not already set to a
        `.DateFormatter` instance).
        )