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blackseed plantain, plantain de Rugel, Rugel's plantain

heart-leaf plantain

Habit Perennials, sometimes annuals; caudex absent; roots fibrous, thick. Perennials; caudex well developed, conspicuous, glabrous; roots fibrous, thick.
Stems

0–20 mm.

0–20 mm.

Leaves

20–150 × 10–120 mm;

petiole to 200 mm;

blade ovate to cordate-ovate, margins entire or toothed, veins conspicuous, surfaces glabrous or hirsute.

100–300 × 80–200 mm;

petiole to 300 mm;

blade broadly oval to cordate-ovate, margins entire, veins conspicuous, laterals branching from midvein distal to base, surfaces glabrous.

Scapes

50–250 mm, glabrous or hirsute.

200–300 mm, glabrous.

Spikes

brownish or greenish, 50–300 mm, densely or loosely flowered;

bracts narrowly lanceolate, 2 mm, length 1–1.2 times sepals.

brownish or greenish, 100–500 mm, loosely flowered, rachis visible between flowers;

bracts round-ovate, 2 mm, length 0.8–1 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 spreading, 2–2.5 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

Fruits

4–6(–8) mm, dehiscing proximal to middle.

Seeds

4 or 5(–8), 1.5–2 mm.

2–4, 2.5–3.5 mm.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Plantago rugelii

Plantago cordata

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Open woods, meadows, pastures, waste places. Rocky or gravelly beds of shallow, slow-moving streams, sloughs, swamps.
Elevation 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; NB; NS; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NY; OH; TN; VA; WI; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Plantago cordata is listed as federally endangered in Canada and is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 292. FNA vol. 17, p. 285.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Plantago Plantaginaceae > Plantago
Sibling taxa
P. afra, P. argyrea, P. aristata, P. australis, P. canescens, P. cordata, P. coronopus, P. elongata, P. erecta, P. eriopoda, P. firma, P. floccosa, P. helleri, P. heterophylla, P. hookeriana, P. indica, P. lanceolata, P. macrocarpa, P. major, P. maritima, P. media, P. ovata, P. patagonica, P. pusilla, P. rhodosperma, P. sempervirens, P. sparsiflora, P. subnuda, P. tweedyi, P. virginica, P. wrightiana
P. afra, P. argyrea, P. aristata, P. australis, P. canescens, P. coronopus, P. elongata, P. erecta, P. eriopoda, P. firma, P. floccosa, P. helleri, P. heterophylla, P. hookeriana, P. indica, P. lanceolata, P. macrocarpa, P. major, P. maritima, P. media, P. ovata, P. patagonica, P. pusilla, P. rhodosperma, P. rugelii, P. sempervirens, P. sparsiflora, P. subnuda, P. tweedyi, P. virginica, P. wrightiana
Name authority Decaisne: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 13(1): 700. (1852) Lamarck: in J. Lamarck and J. L. M. Poiret, Tabl. Encycl. 1: 338. (1792)
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