Plantago major |
Plantago australis |
|
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common plantain, great plantain, nippleseed, plantain majeur |
Mexican plantain |
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Habit | Perennials, sometimes annuals; caudex absent; roots fibrous, thick. | Perennials; caudex glabrous; roots fibrous, 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. |
40–350 × 6–77 mm; blade elliptic to narrowly elliptic, margins entire, veins conspicuous, surfaces pilose, rarely glabrate, adaxial surface hairs not floccose, less than 2 mm long, more than 0.03 mm wide. |
Scapes | 50–250(–500) mm, surpassing leaves or not, glabrous or hirsute. |
30–560 mm, hairy, hairs antrorse, 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, 100–1000 mm, densely flowered; bracts narrowly triangular, 1.6–4.2 mm, length 0.8–1.5 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 erect, forming a beak, 2–2.8 mm, base obtuse; stamens 4. |
Fruits | (2–)4–5 mm, dehiscing at middle. |
|
Seeds | 5–35, 0.5–1 mm. |
3, 1.2–2.2 mm. |
2n | = 12. |
= 24. |
Plantago major |
Plantago australis |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Roadsides, trails, stream banks, urban areas, lawns, other disturbed areas. | Open places. |
Elevation | 0–3000 m. (0–9800 ft.) | 0–1000 m. (0–3300 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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AZ; Mexico; Central America; 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.) |
Plantago australis occurs in Cochise, Coconino, and Pima counties. Plantago australis is most diverse in South America, where as many as 16 subspecies (K. Rahn 1974) may be recognized. Plants from California identified as P. hirtella are most likely P. subnuda. However, since the most important distinguishing character of P. australis is the absence of the developed taproot (which is fragile and often broken in herbarium specimens), all these samples require careful examination. Further research is needed also to clarify the circumscriptions of P. australis and P. subnuda. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 17, p. 289. | FNA vol. 17, p. 284. |
Parent taxa | Plantaginaceae > Plantago | Plantaginaceae > Plantago |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. major var. pachyphylla, P. major var. pilgeri, P. major var. scopulorum | P. australis subsp. hirtella, P. hirtella, P. hirtella var. galeottiana, P. hirtella var. mollior |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 112. (1753) | Lamarck: in J. Lamarck and J. L. M. Poiret, Tabl. Encycl. 1: 339. (1792) |
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