Plantago major |
Plantago eriopoda |
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common plantain, great plantain, nippleseed, plantain majeur |
alkali plantain, hairy fruit plantain, plantain à base velue, redwool plantain, saline plantain |
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Habit | Perennials, sometimes annuals; caudex absent; roots fibrous, thick. | Perennials; caudex well developed, conspicuous, brown-woolly; roots taproots, thick. |
Stems | 0–20 mm. |
0–20 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. |
(30–)50–250 × (5–)15–70 mm; blade lanceolate to elliptic, margins entire, veins conspicuous, laterals branching from base, surfaces glabrous or hairy. |
Scapes | 50–250(–500) mm, surpassing leaves or not, glabrous or hirsute. |
(40–)50–300 mm, glabrous or hairy. |
Spikes | brownish or greenish, (20–)50–300(–400) mm, densely flowered; bracts lanceolate, 0.5–1 mm, length 0.3–0.7 times sepals. |
brownish or greenish, (25–)80–500 mm, loosely flowered, rachis visible between flowers; bracts broadly ovate, 2–2.5 mm, length 0.8–1.2 times sepals. |
Flowers | sepals 1.5–2 mm; corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 0.5–1 mm, base obtuse; stamens 4. |
sepals 2–2.5 mm; corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 1–1.5 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, 2–2.5 mm. |
2n | = 12. |
= 24. |
Plantago major |
Plantago eriopoda |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering late spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Roadsides, trails, stream banks, urban areas, lawns, other disturbed areas. | Moist meadows and prairies, wetlands, marshes, fens, ditches, stream banks, saline or alkaline soils. |
Elevation | 0–3000 m. (0–9800 ft.) | 0–2900 m. (0–9500 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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AK; AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; MN; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; NY; OR; SD; UT; WY; AB; BC; MB; NT; QC; SK; YT; Mexico (Durango)
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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. 286. |
Parent taxa | Plantaginaceae > Plantago | Plantaginaceae > Plantago |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. major var. pachyphylla, P. major var. pilgeri, P. major var. scopulorum | P. shastensis |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 112. (1753) | Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 2: 237. (1827) |
Web links |
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