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Tweedy's plantain

common plantain, great plantain, nippleseed, plantain majeur

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

0–20 mm.

0–20 mm.

Leaves

40–200 × 10–30 mm;

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

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.

Scapes

25–200 mm, slightly surpassing leaves, glabrous.

50–250(–500) mm, surpassing leaves or not, glabrous or hirsute.

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.

brownish or greenish, (20–)50–300(–400) mm, densely flowered;

bracts lanceolate, 0.5–1 mm, length 0.3–0.7 times sepals.

Flowers

sepals 2–2.5 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.

Fruits

(2–)4–5 mm, dehiscing at middle.

Seeds

3 or 4, 2–2.3 mm.

5–35, 0.5–1 mm.

2n

= 24.

= 12.

Plantago tweedyi

Plantago major

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Grasslands, sagebrush steppes, montane and subalpine meadows. Roadsides, trails, stream banks, urban areas, lawns, other disturbed areas.
Elevation 1600–4000 m. (5200–13100 ft.) 0–3000 m. (0–9800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; UT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 293. FNA vol. 17, p. 289.
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. 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. 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
Synonyms P. major var. pachyphylla, P. major var. pilgeri, P. major var. scopulorum
Name authority A. Gray: in A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. ed. 2, 2(1): 390. (1886) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 112. (1753)
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