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glandular plantain

buckhorn plantain, English plantain, narrow-leaf plantain, ribwort, ribwort plantain

Habit Annuals; roots taproots, slender. Perennials; caudex hairy or glabrous; roots fibrous, slender.
Stems

100–350 mm, freely branched.

0–20 mm.

Leaves

cauline, opposite, 30–60 × 1–4 mm;

blade linear to linear-lanceolate, margins entire or slightly toothed, veins conspicuous or not, surfaces hairy.

30–300 × 5–25(–45) mm;

blade lanceolate to oblanceolate, margins entire or toothed, veins conspicuous, surfaces glabrous or sericeous.

Scapes

30–50 mm, hairy.

300–400 mm, groove-angled, hairy.

Spikes

greenish or brownish, 40–65 mm, densely flowered, glandular-hairy;

bracts all similar, ovate, 3–5 mm, lengths 1–1.5 times sepals.

grayish, whitish, or yellowish, (5–)100–450(–1000) mm, usually shorter than scape, densely flowered, shiny;

corolla lobes of neighboring flowers often overlapping;

bracts broadly ovate, 2 mm, length 0.8–1 times sepals.

Flowers

sepals 3–3.5 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 2–3 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

sepals 2–2.5 mm, adaxial 2 connate;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 2–2.5 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

Capsules

lanceoloid.

Seeds

2, 2–3 mm.

(1 or)2, 2–3(–4) mm.

2n

= 12.

= 12.

Plantago afra

Plantago lanceolata

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Disturbed habitats. Roadsides, trails, lawns, urban areas, other disturbed sites.
Elevation 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) 0–3200 m. (0–10500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
MA; s Europe [Introduced in North America]
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; BC; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SPM; Greenland; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Central America, South America, Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Plantago afra is known in Massachusetts from a single collection made in 1927 in Worcester County.

Plantago psyllium Linnaeus (1762, not 1753), a rejected name, and P. indica Linnaeus are misapplied names that pertain here. Plantago squalida Salisbury is an illegitimate name that pertains here.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Plantago lanceolata is known from historic collections in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The name Plantago altissima Linnaeus sometimes has been misapplied to North American plants of P. lanceolata.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 284. FNA vol. 17, p. 288.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Plantago Plantaginaceae > Plantago
Sibling taxa
P. argyrea, P. aristata, P. australis, P. canescens, P. cordata, P. coronopus, P. elongata, P. erecta, P. eriopoda, P. firma, P. floccosa, P. helleri, P. heterophylla, P. hookeriana, P. indica, P. lanceolata, P. macrocarpa, P. major, P. maritima, P. media, P. ovata, P. patagonica, P. pusilla, P. rhodosperma, P. rugelii, P. sempervirens, P. sparsiflora, P. subnuda, P. tweedyi, P. virginica, P. wrightiana
P. afra, P. argyrea, P. aristata, P. australis, P. canescens, P. cordata, P. coronopus, P. elongata, P. erecta, P. eriopoda, P. firma, P. floccosa, P. helleri, P. heterophylla, P. hookeriana, P. indica, P. macrocarpa, P. major, P. maritima, P. media, P. ovata, P. patagonica, P. pusilla, P. rhodosperma, P. rugelii, P. sempervirens, P. sparsiflora, P. subnuda, P. tweedyi, P. virginica, P. wrightiana
Synonyms P. lanceolata var. angustifolia, P. lanceolata var. sphaerostachya
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 168. (1762) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 113. (1753)
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