Plantago major |
Plantago coronopus |
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common plantain, great plantain, nippleseed, plantain majeur |
buck's-horn plantain, buck-horn plantain, cut-leaf plantain |
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Habit | Perennials, sometimes annuals; caudex absent; roots fibrous, thick. | Annuals, sometimes biennials; roots taproots, stout. |
Stems | 0–20 mm. |
0–10 mm. |
Leaves | 20–150(–400) × 10–120(–170) mm; petiole to 200 mm; blade ovate to cordate-ovate, margins entire or toothed, veins conspicuous, surfaces glabrous or hirsute. |
20–80(–115) × 5–15 mm; blade lanceolate, margins usually 1- or 2-pinnatifid, veins conspicuous or not, surfaces villous, hairs septate, sometimes glabrate. |
Scapes | 50–250(–500) mm, surpassing leaves or not, glabrous or hirsute. |
decumbent, sometimes erect, 15–150(–210) mm, villous. |
Spikes | brownish or greenish, (20–)50–300(–400) mm, densely flowered; bracts lanceolate, 0.5–1 mm, length 0.3–0.7 times sepals. |
decumbent, sometimes erect, greenish, purplish, or brownish, (15–)30–300 mm, densely flowered; bracts ovate to lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm, length 0.5–0.6 times sepals. |
Flowers | sepals 1.5–2 mm; corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 0.5–1 mm, base obtuse; stamens 4. |
sepals 2–3 mm; corolla radially symmetric, tube hairy, lobes reflexed, 1 mm, base obtuse; stamens 4. |
Fruits | (2–)4–5 mm, dehiscing at middle. |
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Seeds | 5–35, 0.5–1 mm. |
(2–)4 (plus 1 smaller, distal one of different shape), 1–1.5 mm. |
2n | = 12. |
= 10, 20, 30 (all Eurasia). |
Plantago major |
Plantago coronopus |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Roadsides, trails, stream banks, urban areas, lawns, other disturbed areas. | Moist, gravelly or sandy soils. |
Elevation | 0–3000 m. (0–9800 ft.) | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) |
Distribution |
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; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM; Greenland; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, Central America, South America, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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CA; MA; NJ; NY; OR; PA; TX; WA; BC; MB; Greenland; Eurasia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in s South America]
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Discussion | Subspecies intermedia (Gilibert) Lange is often accepted by European botanists as a separate species, Plantago uliginosa F. W. Schmidt. Observations suggest that plants referable to this taxon may occur in the United States; it has been reported from the New England states (A. Haines 2011). Subspecies intermedia is distinguished by more abundant (11–35) and smaller (0.8–1 mm) seeds, ascending spikes, ovoid fruits, and elliptic or lanceolate leaf blades. Without detailed morphologic and genetic investigations of North American plants similar to the study of European plants by M. Morgan-Richards and K. Wolff (1999), it is not possible to draw any conclusions about the status and distribution of this or any other possible infraspecific taxa of P. major in North America. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 289. | FNA vol. 17, p. 285. |
Parent taxa | Plantaginaceae > Plantago | Plantaginaceae > Plantago |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. major var. pachyphylla, P. major var. pilgeri, P. major var. scopulorum | P. coronopus subsp. commutata |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 112. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 115. (1753) |
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