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bottlebrush indianwheat, bract plantain, bristly plantain, large bract plantain

Alaska plantain, common plantain, goose tongue, maritime plantain, plantain maritime, salt marsh plantain, sea plantain, seaside plantain

Habit Annuals; roots taproots, slender. Perennials, rarely annuals; caudex absent or well developed, conspicuous, glabrous or hairy; roots taproots, thick.
Stems

20–40 mm.

0–40 mm, usually branched.

Leaves

30–200 × 3–7 mm;

blade linear or narrowly lanceolate, margins entire, rarely toothed, veins conspicuous or not, abaxial surface villous, adaxial glabrous or sparsely villous.

10–220 × (1–)10–15 mm;

blade linear to lanceolate, margins entire or toothed, veins not conspicuous, surfaces glabrous, sometimes hairy.

Scapes

100–500 mm, hairy, hairs antrorse, long and short.

40–120 mm, glabrous or hirsute.

Spikes

greenish or brownish, 80–150 mm, densely flowered, flowers in whorls or pairs;

bracts almost linear, 15–30 mm, length 2–12 times sepals.

greenish or brownish, (15–)50–200(–290) mm, densely or loosely flowered;

bracts broadly ovate, 1.5–4(–6) mm, length 0.8–1.2 times sepals.

Flowers

sepals 2.7–3.7 mm;

corolla bilaterally symmetric, lobes reflexed, adaxials 1.4–2.3 mm, laterals symmetric, base deeply cordate;

stamens 4, connective elongated, apex acute.

sepals 1.5–3.5 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, tube hairy, lobes reflexed, 1–1.5 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

Seeds

2, 2.5–2.9 mm.

1–3, 1.5–3 mm.

2n

= 20.

= 24.

Plantago aristata

Plantago maritima

Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering summer.
Habitat Roadsides, pastures, disturbed ground. Marine shorelines, crevices of large rocks in sea spray, coastal and inland salt marshes, alkaline and saline flats, roadsides.
Elevation 0–700 m. (0–2300 ft.) 0–800 m. (0–2600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; NS; ON [Introduced in Central America, Europe, Asia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; CT; MA; ME; NH; NJ; NY; OR; RI; VA; WA; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Mexico; Central America; South America; Greenland; Eurasia; Africa
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Plantago aristata is similar to P. patagonica; the latter is distinguished by its dense, villous indument.

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

Plantago maritima has been reported from Utah; no specimen supporting that report has been found.

Since the 1930s, when Plantago maritima was shown to have high levels of phenotypic plasticity (J. W. Gregor and J. M. S. Lang 1950), it usually has been accepted in a broad sense. That approach is followed here, with all dwarf and loose-flowered forms (such as P. borealis and P. decipiens, respectively) included under this name.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 284. FNA vol. 17, p. 289.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Plantago Plantaginaceae > Plantago
Sibling taxa
P. afra, P. argyrea, 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. lanceolata, P. macrocarpa, P. major, 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. patagonica var. aristata, P. purshii var. aristata P. borealis, P. decipiens, P. juncoides, P. juncoides var. californica, P. juncoides var. decipiens, P. juncoides var. glauca, P. juncoides var. laurentiana, P. maritima subsp. borealis, P. maritima var. californica, P. maritima var. decipiens, P. maritima var. glauca, P. maritima subsp. juncoides, P. maritima var. juncoides, P. oliganthos, P. oliganthos var. fallax
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 95. (1803) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 114. (1753)
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