Plantago major |
Plantago hookeriana |
|
---|---|---|
common plantain, great plantain, nippleseed, plantain majeur |
California plantain, Hooker's plantain, tallow weed |
|
Habit | Perennials, sometimes annuals; caudex absent; roots fibrous, thick. | Annuals; roots taproots, slender. |
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. |
60–120 × 4–10 mm; blade linear, margins toothed (teeth to 4 mm), rarely entire, veins conspicuous or not, surfaces villous or sericeous. |
Scapes | 50–250(–500) mm, surpassing leaves or not, glabrous or hirsute. |
280–580 mm, hairy, hairs antrorse, long and short. |
Spikes | brownish or greenish, (20–)50–300(–400) mm, densely flowered; bracts lanceolate, 0.5–1 mm, length 0.3–0.7 times sepals. |
greenish or brownish, 50–180 mm, densely flowered, flowers in whorls or pairs; bracts ovate or triangular, 1.5–6 mm, length 0.6–1.4 times sepals, apex acute or acuminate. |
Flowers | sepals 1.5–2 mm; corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 0.5–1 mm, base obtuse; stamens 4. |
sepals 2.5–4 mm; corolla bilaterally symmetric, abaxial and lateral lobes reflexed, adaxial erect, 2.2–2.5 mm, base slightly cordate; stamens 4, connective significantly elongated, apex acute. |
Fruits | (2–)4–5 mm, dehiscing at middle. |
|
Seeds | 5–35, 0.5–1 mm. |
2, 2.4–3.4 mm. |
2n | = 12. |
= 20. |
Plantago major |
Plantago hookeriana |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Roadsides, trails, stream banks, urban areas, lawns, other disturbed areas. | Sandy soils, disturbed areas. |
Elevation | 0–3000 m. (0–9800 ft.) | 0–1300 m. (0–4300 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]
|
LA; MS; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
|
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.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 289. | FNA vol. 17, p. 287. |
Parent taxa | Plantaginaceae > Plantago | Plantaginaceae > Plantago |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. major var. pachyphylla, P. major var. pilgeri, P. major var. scopulorum | P. hookeriana var. nuda |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 112. (1753) | Fischer & C. A. Meyer: Index Seminum (St. Petersburg) 1838: 39. (1839) |
Web links |
|