Burke: Plantago major

	Plantago major
	nippleseed, common plantain, great plantain
Habit	Fibrous-rooted perennial from a short, stout, woody base, mostly glabrous, not woolly at the crown; scapes 5-25 cm. long.
Leaves	Leaves all basal, the broadly elliptic to broadly ovate blade contracted abruptly to the petiole, entire or irregularly toothed, 4-18 cm. long and 2.5-11 cm. wide, strongly 3- to several-nerved.
Flowers	Inflorescence a dense, bracteate, narrow spike, 5-30 cm. long, glabrous; bracts broad, thin-margined, 2-4 mm. long; calyx 4-lobed; 4 corolla lobes 1 mm. long, reflexed; stamens 4, exerted; ovary superior, 2-celled.
Fruits	Capsule 2.5-4 mm. long.

	Plantago major
Flowering time	April-August
Habitat	Roadsides, fields and other disturbed, open areas.
Distribution	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Europe
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. arenaria, P. coronopus, P. elongata, P. lanceolata, P. macrocarpa, P. maritima, P. patagonica, P. pusilla, P. subnuda
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Plantago major

nippleseed, common plantain, great plantain

Habit

Fibrous-rooted perennial from a short, stout, woody base, mostly glabrous, not woolly at the crown; scapes 5-25 cm. long.

Leaves

Leaves all basal, the broadly elliptic to broadly ovate blade contracted abruptly to the petiole, entire or irregularly toothed, 4-18 cm. long and 2.5-11 cm. wide, strongly 3- to several-nerved.

Flowers

Inflorescence a dense, bracteate, narrow spike, 5-30 cm. long, glabrous;

bracts broad, thin-margined, 2-4 mm. long;

calyx 4-lobed; 4 corolla lobes 1 mm. long, reflexed;

stamens 4, exerted;

ovary superior, 2-celled.

Fruits

Capsule 2.5-4 mm. long.