Plantago sparsiflora
Plantago major
pineland plantain
common plantain, great plantain, nippleseed, plantain majeur
0–10 mm.
0–20 mm.
50–300 × 10–30 mm;
blade lanceolate, margins entire, sometimes toothed, veins conspicuous, laterals branching from base, surfaces sparsely hairy.
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.
75–150 mm, sparsely hairy.
50–250(–500) mm, surpassing leaves or not, glabrous or hirsute.
brownish or greenish, 100–450 mm, loosely flowered, rachis visible between flowers;
bracts ovate, 1 mm, length 0.5–0.6 times sepals.
brownish or greenish, (20–)50–300(–400) mm, densely flowered;
bracts lanceolate, 0.5–1 mm, length 0.3–0.7 times sepals.
sepals 2 mm;
corolla radially symmetric, lobes spreading, 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.
2, 2 mm.
5–35, 0.5–1 mm.
= 24.
= 12.
Plantago sparsiflora
Plantago major
Populations of Plantago sparsiflora occur mainly along the Atlantic coast from Columbia County, North Carolina, south to Volusia County, Florida.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
