[Python] matplotlib: using a colormap to color table-cell background

I have a Pandas dataframe, and i want to plot it as matplotlib table. So far i have that part working with following code:

import numpy as np
randn = np.random.randn
from pandas import *

idx = Index(arange(1,11))
df = DataFrame(randn(10, 5), index=idx, columns=['A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E'])
vals = np.around(df.values,2)

fig = plt.figure(figsize=(15,8))
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, frameon=True, xticks=[], yticks=[])

the_table=plt.table(cellText=vals, rowLabels=df.index, colLabels=df.columns,
colWidths = [0.03]*vals.shape[1], loc='center')

table_props = the_table.properties()
table_cells = table_props['child_artists']

clm = cm.hot(vals)

for cell in table_cells:
cell.set_height(0.04)
# now i would like to set the backgroundcolor of the cell


At the end of this i would like to set the background-color of the cell according to the colormap - but how do i look it up in the clm array without an index?

Another question: can i somehow pass a format string to the table, so that it formats the text to 2 decimal places?

Any hints appreciated, Andy

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