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buckhorn plantain, English plantain, narrow-leaf plantain, ribwort, ribwort plantain

dwarf plantain, little plantain, woolly indianwheat, woolly plantain

Habit Perennials; caudex hairy or glabrous; roots fibrous, slender. Annuals; roots taproots, slender.
Stems

0–20 mm.

0–5 mm.

Leaves

30–300 × 5–25(–45) mm;

blade lanceolate to oblanceolate, margins entire or toothed, veins conspicuous, surfaces glabrous or sericeous.

20–70 × 1–2 mm;

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

Scapes

300–400 mm, groove-angled, hairy.

15–60 mm, hairy, sometimes glabrous.

Spikes

grayish, whitish, or yellowish, (5–)100–450(–1000) mm, usually shorter than scape, densely flowered, shiny;

corolla lobes of neighboring flowers often overlapping;

bracts broadly ovate, 2 mm, length 0.8–1 times sepals.

greenish or brownish, 20–100 mm, loosely or densely flowered;

bracts triangular-ovate, 1.5–2 mm, length 0.9–1.1 times sepals.

Flowers

sepals 2–2.5 mm, adaxial 2 connate;

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

stamens 4.

sepals 1.5–2 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes erect, forming a beak, 0.5 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 2.

Seeds

(1 or)2, 2–3(–4) mm.

4, 0.8–1.3 mm.

2n

= 12.

= 12.

Plantago lanceolata

Plantago pusilla

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering spring–early summer.
Habitat Roadsides, trails, lawns, urban areas, other disturbed sites. Dry to moist, sandy, alluvial soils.
Elevation 0–3200 m. [0–10500 ft.] 0–200 m. [0–700 ft.]
Distribution
map from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; BC; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SPM; Greenland; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Central America, South America, Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
map from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Plantago lanceolata is known from historic collections in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The name Plantago altissima Linnaeus sometimes has been misapplied to North American plants of P. lanceolata.

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

Plantago pusilla is considered to be introduced in Oregon and Washington, and possibly in California.

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

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. heterophylla, P. hookeriana, P. indica, 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. maritima, P. media, P. ovata, P. patagonica, P. rhodosperma, P. rugelii, P. sempervirens, P. sparsiflora, P. subnuda, P. tweedyi, P. virginica, P. wrightiana
Synonyms P. lanceolata var. angustifolia, P. lanceolata var. sphaerostachya P. hybrida, P. pusilla var. major
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 113. (1753) Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 100. (1818)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 288. Treatment author: Alexey Shipunov. FNA vol. 17, p. 291. Treatment author: Alexey Shipunov.
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