Plantago major
Plantago rugelii
common plantain, great plantain, nippleseed, plantain majeur
blackseed plantain, plantain de Rugel, Rugel's plantain
0–20 mm.
0–20 mm.
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.
20–150 × 10–120 mm;
petiole to 200 mm;
blade ovate to cordate-ovate, margins entire or toothed, veins conspicuous, surfaces glabrous or hirsute.
50–250(–500) mm, surpassing leaves or not, glabrous or hirsute.
50–250 mm, glabrous or hirsute.
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, 50–300 mm, densely or loosely flowered;
bracts narrowly lanceolate, 2 mm, length 1–1.2 times sepals.
sepals 1.5–2 mm;
corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 0.5–1 mm, base obtuse;
stamens 4.
sepals 1.5–2 mm;
corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 0.5–1 mm, base obtuse;
stamens 4.
(2–)4–5 mm, dehiscing at middle.
4–6(–8) mm, dehiscing proximal to middle.
5–35, 0.5–1 mm.
4 or 5(–8), 1.5–2 mm.
= 12.
= 24.
Plantago major
Plantago rugelii
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.)
Plants of Plantago major and P. rugelii are morphologically indistinguishable when young; they may be differentiated with certainty only at fruiting stage. DNA sequence data (A. Shipunov et al. 2014) confirm that the two species are distinct: P. rugelii is different from P. major by 11 substitutions in the ITS2 sequence.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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