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Tweedy's plantain

glandular plantain

Habit Perennials; caudex well developed, conspicuous, glabrous; roots taproots, thick. Annuals; roots taproots, slender.
Stems

0–20 mm.

100–350 mm, freely branched.

Leaves

40–200 × 10–30 mm;

blade lanceolate-spatulate to narrowly ovate, margins entire, sometimes toothed, veins conspicuous, surfaces usually glabrous.

cauline, opposite, 30–60 × 1–4 mm;

blade linear to linear-lanceolate, margins entire or slightly toothed, veins conspicuous or not, surfaces hairy.

Scapes

25–200 mm, slightly surpassing leaves, glabrous.

30–50 mm, hairy.

Spikes

brownish or greenish, 45–250 mm, densely flowered, rachis not clearly visible between flowers;

bracts broadly ovate, 2 mm, length 0.8–1 times sepals.

greenish or brownish, 40–65 mm, densely flowered, glandular-hairy;

bracts all similar, ovate, 3–5 mm, lengths 1–1.5 times sepals.

Flowers

sepals 2–2.5 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes spreading, 1 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

sepals 3–3.5 mm;

corolla radially symmetric, lobes reflexed, 2–3 mm, base obtuse;

stamens 4.

Capsules

lanceoloid.

Seeds

3 or 4, 2–2.3 mm.

2, 2–3 mm.

2n

= 24.

= 12.

Plantago tweedyi

Plantago afra

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Grasslands, sagebrush steppes, montane and subalpine meadows. Disturbed habitats.
Elevation 1600–4000 m. (5200–13100 ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
MA; s Europe [Introduced in North America]
Discussion

Plantago afra is known in Massachusetts from a single collection made in 1927 in Worcester County.

Plantago psyllium Linnaeus (1762, not 1753), a rejected name, and P. indica Linnaeus are misapplied names that pertain here. Plantago squalida Salisbury is an illegitimate name that pertains here.

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

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 293. FNA vol. 17, p. 284.
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. rugelii, P. sempervirens, P. sparsiflora, P. subnuda, P. virginica, P. wrightiana
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. rugelii, P. sempervirens, P. sparsiflora, P. subnuda, P. tweedyi, P. virginica, P. wrightiana
Name authority A. Gray: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. ed. 2, 2(1): 390. (1886) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. ed. 2, 1: 168. (1762)
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