Common Name: PLANTAIN FAMILY Habit: Annual to shrub, some aquatic. Leaf: basal or cauline, alternate or opposite (whorled), simple, entire to dentate or lobed, venation generally pinnate; stipules 0. Inflorescence: raceme, spike, or flowers axillary in 1--few-flowered clusters; flowers few to many, each subtended by 1 bract. Flower: unisexual or bisexual, radial or bilateral; sepals 4--5, generally fused at base; corolla 4--5-lobed, scarious or not, persistent or not, generally 2-lipped, upper lip generally 2-lobed, lower generally 3-lobed, spur present or not, tube sac-like at base or not; stamens 2 or 4, alternate corolla lobes, epipetalous, staminode 0 or 1--2, anthers opening by 2 slits; ovary superior, [1]2--4-chambered, style 1, stigma lobes 0 or 2. Fruit: generally a capsule, septicidal, loculicidal, circumscissile, or dehiscing by terminal slits or pores. Genera In Family: +- 110 genera, +- 2000 species: worldwide, especially temperate. Note: Veronicaceae sensu Olmstead et al. Recently treated to include Callitrichaceae, Hippuridaceae, and most non-parasitic California genera of Scrophulariaceae (except Buddleja, Diplacus, Erythranthe, Limosella, Lindernia, Mimetanthe, Mimulus, Myoporum, Scrophularia, Verbascum). California Maurandya moved to Holmgrenanthe and Maurandella. Mohavea moved to Antirrhinum. Limnophila ×ludoviciana Thieret an occasional agricultural weed in rice fields. Hebe ×franciscana (Eastw.) Souster, Hebe speciosa (R. Cunn.) Andersen only cultivated. eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax, except as noted Scientific Editor: Robert W. Patterson, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Common Name: PLANTAIN Habit: Annual to perennial herb, generally scapose. Stem: decumbent to erect. Leaf: generally basal, veins generally +- parallel. Inflorescence: spike, generally dense; flowers few to many, cleistogamous or opening (both). Flower: generally bisexual; calyx deeply 4-lobed, lobes generally overlapped, persistent, margin generally scarious; corolla radial or bilateral, salverform or cylindric, scarious, persistent in fruit, colorless except for lobe midribs or not, lobes 4, spreading to erect; stamens generally 4; ovules several per chamber, stigma long, hairy. Fruit: circumscissile +- at or proximal to middle. Seed: 2--many, gelatinous when wetted. Etymology: (Latin: sole of foot) Note:Plantago sempervirens Crantz, Plantago heterophylla Nutt., reported but not documented, possibly naturalized in California. Unabridged Note: 2 species reported but not documented for California: Plantago sempervirens Crantz, native to southern Europe, Turkey, differs from Plantago arenaria in, e.g., habit (dwarf shrub vs annual), corolla tube (4--5 vs 3.5--4 mm), fruit (4--5 vs +- 2 mm); Plantago heterophylla Nutt., native to southeastern North America, differs from Plantago elongata in, e.g., seed number, size [10--25(30), 0.5--0.8 mm vs (3)4--9(12), 1.5--2.5 mm], corolla lobe orientation (generally spreading vs generally 1 erect, 3 spreading or reflexed). eFlora Treatment Author: Thomas J. Rosatti Reference: Meyers & Liston 2008 Int J Pl Sci 169:954--962
Plantago lanceolata L.
NATURALIZED Habit: Perennial herb, caudex stout, taprooted; hairs short. Leaf: 5--25 cm, lanceolate to lance-oblong, tapered to petiole, generally finely dentate. Inflorescence: few to many, 20--80 cm including peduncle; spike 2--8 cm, +- ovoid, in age cylindric; peduncle grooved; bract not exserted, +- = calyx, widely ovate, acute, green midrib not reaching tip. Flower: abaxial sepals united > 1/2 from base, scarious parts united; corolla lobes spreading, 2--2.5 mm, ovate, +- acute. Seed: 1--2, +- 3 mm. Chromosomes: 2n=12,24,96. Ecology: Common. Disturbed areas; Elevation: < 1600 m. Bioregional Distribution: CA-FP; Distribution Outside California: native to Europe. Flowering Time: Apr--Aug Jepson eFlora Author: Thomas J. Rosatti Reference: Meyers & Liston 2008 Int J Pl Sci 169:954--962 Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) View the CDFA Pest Rating page for Plantago lanceolata Weed listed by Cal-IPC Previous taxon: Plantago eriopoda Next taxon: Plantago major
Botanical illustration including Plantago lanceolata
Citation for this treatment: Thomas J. Rosatti 2012, Plantago lanceolata, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=38567, accessed on December 03, 2024.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 03, 2024.
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(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).
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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month
Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).