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slender plantain

floccose plantain

Habit Annuals; roots taproots, slender. Perennials; caudex well developed, conspicuous, glabrous or hairy; roots several taproots, fragile.
Stems

0–10 mm.

0–30 mm.

Leaves

30–80 × 1–4 mm;

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

50–220 × 9–60 mm;

blade elliptic to narrowly elliptic, margins with inconspicuous teeth, veins conspicuous, surfaces hairy, adaxial surface hairs floccose, slender, 4–6 × 0.01–0.03 mm.

Scapes

5–60 mm, hairy, sometimes glabrous.

55–220 mm, lanate, hairs variously directed, long.

Spikes

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

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

greenish or brownish, 200–500 mm, densely flowered, flowers less crowded proximally;

bracts narrowly triangular or triangular, 2–2.8 mm, lengths 0.9–1 times sepals.

Flowers

sepals 2 mm;

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

stamens 2.

sepals 1.9–2.7 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes erect, forming a beak, 2–2.9 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

Seeds

10–25(–30), 0.5–0.8 mm.

3, 1.8–2.4 mm.

2n

= 12.

Plantago heterophylla

Plantago floccosa

Phenology Flowering spring–early summer. Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Moist sandy soils. Roadsides.
Elevation 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) 0–300 m. (0–1000 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
FL; Mexico (Hidalgo, México, Querétaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Veracruz) [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

According to J. Burkhalter (pers. comm.), Plantago floccosa is well established in northwestern Florida near the border with Alabama.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 287. FNA vol. 17, p. 287.
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. eriopoda, P. firma, 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 Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n.s. 5: 177. (1835) Decaisne: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 13(1): 723. (1852)
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