Burke: Plantago major vs. Plantago arenaria

	Plantago major	Plantago arenaria
	nippleseed, common plantain, great plantain	sand 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	Plantago arenaria
Flowering time	April-August	June-October
Habitat	Roadsides, fields and other disturbed, open areas.	Sandy areas of roadsides, fields, wastelots, and other disturbed 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]	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in lowland southwestern Washington; British Columbia to California, also in Idaho and central and eastern North America. [BONAP county map]
Origin	Introduced from Europe	Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. arenaria, P. coronopus, P. elongata, P. lanceolata, P. macrocarpa, P. maritima, P. patagonica, P. pusilla, P. subnuda	P. coronopus, P. elongata, P. lanceolata, P. macrocarpa, P. major, 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	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Plantago major

Plantago arenaria

nippleseed, common plantain, great plantain

sand 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

Plantago arenaria

Flowering time

April-August

June-October

Habitat

Roadsides, fields and other disturbed, open areas.

Sandy areas of roadsides, fields, wastelots, and other disturbed 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]

Occurring west of the Cascades crest in lowland southwestern Washington; British Columbia to California, also in Idaho and central and eastern North America.

[BONAP county map]

Origin

Introduced from Europe

Introduced from Eurasia

Conservation status

Not of concern

Sibling taxa