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Alaska plantain, seashore plantain

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

Habit Perennials; caudex well developed, conspicuous, glabrous; roots fibrous, thick. Perennials; caudex hairy or glabrous; roots fibrous, slender.
Stems

0–20 mm.

0–20 mm.

Leaves

(80–)100–400(–550) × (5–)10–35(–40) mm;

blade oblanceolate or almost linear, margins entire, veins conspicuous, 4 or 5, surfaces glabrous.

30–300 × 5–25(–45) mm;

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

Scapes

300–400 mm, glabrous or sparsely hairy, becoming densely so distally.

300–400 mm, groove-angled, hairy.

Spikes

greenish or brownish, 350–450 mm, loosely flowered;

bracts ovate to deltate, 3–4 mm, length 1.5–2.5 times sepals.

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.

Flowers

sepals 1.5–2 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes spreading, 1.5–2 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

sepals 2–2.5 mm, adaxial 2 connate;

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

stamens 4.

Fruits

ovoid, indehiscent or dehiscence not circumscissile.

Seeds

1 or 2, 4–5 mm.

(1 or)2, 2–3(–4) mm.

2n

= 24.

= 12.

Plantago macrocarpa

Plantago lanceolata

Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Wet places, tidal marshes, saline areas. Roadsides, trails, lawns, urban areas, other disturbed sites.
Elevation 0–700 m. (0–2300 ft.) 0–3200 m. (0–10500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; OR; WA; BC; Asia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county 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]
Discussion

Plantago macrocarpa has been documented along the Pacific coast south to the mouth of the Yachats River in Oregon.

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

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.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 289. FNA vol. 17, p. 288.
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. lanceolata, 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. 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. lanceolata var. angustifolia, P. lanceolata var. sphaerostachya
Name authority Chamisso & Schlechtendal: Linnaea 1: 166. (1826) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 113. (1753)
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