Page author: David Giblin
Plantago lanceolata
English plantain
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occuring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast; cosmopolitan.

Habitat: Roadsides, fields, and other disturbed, open areas.

Flowers: April-August

Origin: Introduced from Europe

Growth Duration: Perennial

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Wind

Description:
General:

Fibrous-rooted perennial from a short, stout, woody base, tan-woolly at the crown, the several scapes 1.5-6 dm. tall, grooved and ridged.

Leaves:

Leaves all basal, woolly to glabrous, 3- to several-nerved, lance-elliptic, acute, 10-40 cm. long and 1-4 cm. wide.

Flowers:

Inflorescence a dense, bracteate, cylindric spike, 1.5-8 cm. long and 1 cm. wide; bracts thin, ovate, acuminate; the 4 sepals with strong mid-veins, the outer two united, with separate mid-veins; corolla lobes 4, 2-2.5 mm. long, spreading or reflexed; stamens 4, exerted; ovary superior, 2-celled.

Fruits:

Capsule 3-4 mm. long

Accepted Name:
Plantago lanceolata L.
Publication: Sp. Pl. 1: 113-114. 1753.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
(none provided)
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Plantago lanceolata in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Plantago lanceolata checklist entry

OregonFlora: Plantago lanceolata information

E-Flora BC: Plantago lanceolata atlas page

CalPhotos: Plantago lanceolata photos

34 photographs:
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