The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

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

evergreen plantain

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

0–20 mm.

100–400 mm, freely branched.

Leaves

30–300 × 5–25(–45) mm;

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

cauline, opposite, 30–60 × 0.75–1 mm;

blade linear to linear-lanceolate, margins entire, veins inconspicuous, surfaces hairy.

Scapes

300–400 mm, groove-angled, hairy.

30–80 mm, hairy.

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, 40–85 mm, densely flowered;

bracts broadly ovate, 5–6 mm, lengths equal to sepals.

Flowers

sepals 2–2.5 mm, adaxial 2 connate;

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

stamens 4.

sepals 5–6 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 3–3.5 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

Seeds

(1 or)2, 2–3(–4) mm.

1 or 2, 2 mm.

2n

= 12.

= 12.

Plantago lanceolata

Plantago sempervirens

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat Roadsides, trails, lawns, urban areas, other disturbed sites. Disturbed habitats.
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
CA; s Europe [Introduced in North America]
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 sempervirens is known from San Diego County; one specimen (JEPS) was collected in 2008 in Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Plantago cynops Linnaeus (1762, not 1753), a rejected name, has been misapplied to P. sempervirens.

(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. pusilla, P. rhodosperma, P. rugelii, P. sparsiflora, P. subnuda, P. tweedyi, P. virginica, P. wrightiana
Synonyms P. lanceolata var. angustifolia, P. lanceolata var. sphaerostachya
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 113. (1753) Crantz: Inst. Rei Herb. 2: 331. (1766)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 288. Treatment author: Alexey Shipunov. FNA vol. 17, p. 292. Treatment author: Alexey Shipunov.
Web links