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

heart-leaf plantain

Habit Annuals; roots taproots, slender. Perennials; caudex well developed, conspicuous, glabrous; roots fibrous, thick.
Stems

20–40 mm.

0–20 mm.

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.

100–300 × 80–200 mm;

petiole to 300 mm;

blade broadly oval to cordate-ovate, margins entire, veins conspicuous, laterals branching from midvein distal to base, surfaces glabrous.

Scapes

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

200–300 mm, glabrous.

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.

brownish or greenish, 100–500 mm, loosely flowered, rachis visible between flowers;

bracts round-ovate, 2 mm, length 0.8–1 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 2–2.5 mm;

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

stamens 4.

Seeds

2, 2.5–2.9 mm.

2–4, 2.5–3.5 mm.

2n

= 20.

= 24.

Plantago aristata

Plantago cordata

Phenology Flowering spring–fall. Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Roadsides, pastures, disturbed ground. Rocky or gravelly beds of shallow, slow-moving streams, sloughs, swamps.
Elevation 0–700 m. (0–2300 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 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
AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NY; OH; TN; VA; WI; ON
[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 cordata is listed as federally endangered in Canada and is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 284. FNA vol. 17, p. 285.
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. 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
Synonyms P. patagonica var. aristata, P. purshii var. aristata
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 95. (1803) Lamarck: in J. Lamarck and J. L. M. Poiret, Tabl. Encycl. 1: 338. (1792)
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