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Heller's plantain

heart-leaf plantain

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

0–12 mm.

0–20 mm.

Leaves

50–130 × 3–7 mm;

blade linear, margins entire, veins conspicuous or not, surfaces villous, adaxial rarely glabrous.

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

80–250 mm, hairy, hairs patent, long and antrorse, short.

200–300 mm, glabrous.

Spikes

greenish, whitish, or brownish, 50–120 mm, densely flowered, flowers in whorls or pairs;

bracts triangular, 2.5–8 mm, length 0.6–2.2 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 3.5–4 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 3–3.6 mm, base slightly 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, 3.2–3.8 mm.

2–4, 2.5–3.5 mm.

2n

= 20.

= 24.

Plantago helleri

Plantago cordata

Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Dry slopes and flats on limestone. Rocky or gravelly beds of shallow, slow-moving streams, sloughs, swamps.
Elevation 100–1700 m. (300–5600 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
NM; TX
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[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
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Populations of Plantago helleri are concentrated in central Texas, especially in the Edwards Plateau and Trans-Pecos. The species also occurs in Eddy and Lincoln counties, New Mexico.

(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. 287. FNA vol. 17, p. 285.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Plantago Plantaginaceae > Plantago
Sibling taxa
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. 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
Name authority Small: Bull. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 288. (1899) Lamarck: in J. Lamarck and J. L. M. Poiret, Tabl. Encycl. 1: 338. (1792)
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