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slender plantain

alkali plantain, hairy fruit plantain, plantain à base velue, redwool plantain, saline plantain

Habit Annuals; roots taproots, slender. Perennials; caudex well developed, conspicuous, brown-woolly; roots taproots, thick.
Stems

0–10 mm.

0–20 mm.

Leaves

30–80 × 1–4 mm;

blade linear, margins lobed, rarely entire, veins conspicuous or not, surfaces hairy, sometimes glabrous.

(30–)50–250 × (5–)15–70 mm;

blade lanceolate to elliptic, margins entire, veins conspicuous, laterals branching from base, surfaces glabrous or hairy.

Scapes

5–60 mm, hairy, sometimes glabrous.

(40–)50–300 mm, glabrous or hairy.

Spikes

greenish or brownish, 50–150 mm, loosely or densely flowered;

bracts ovate, 2 mm, length 0.9–1.1 times sepals.

brownish or greenish, (25–)80–500 mm, loosely flowered, rachis visible between flowers;

bracts broadly ovate, 2–2.5 mm, length 0.8–1.2 times sepals.

Flowers

sepals 2 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes spreading, 0.5–1 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 2.

sepals 2–2.5 mm;

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

stamens 4.

Seeds

10–25(–30), 0.5–0.8 mm.

2–4, 2–2.5 mm.

2n

= 12.

= 24.

Plantago heterophylla

Plantago eriopoda

Phenology Flowering spring–early summer. Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Moist sandy soils. Moist meadows and prairies, wetlands, marshes, fens, ditches, stream banks, saline or alkaline soils.
Elevation 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) 0–2900 m. (0–9500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IL; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA [Introduced in South America (Argentina)]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; NY; OR; SD; UT; WY; AB; BC; MB; NT; QC; SK; YT; Mexico (Durango)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 287. FNA vol. 17, p. 286.
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. helleri, 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. 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. shastensis
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n.s. 5: 177. (1835) Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 2: 237. (1827)
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