1100 PLANTAGINACEAE 
calyx-lobes 4 mm. long, silky, broadly oblong or oval, about 4.5 mm. long, the scarious 
margins much broader than the green midrib: corolla glabrous; tube often barely as 
long as the calyx ; lobes orbicular-ovate or suborbicular, about 4 mm. long, spreading, as 
long as the tube: capsules oblong, 4-5 mm. long, circumscissile below the middle : seeds 
2, about 4 mm. long, brown. 
In dry soil, Texas. Spring and summer. 
10. Plantago Purshii R. & S. Annual, light green, white-woolly throughout. 
Leaves basal, 5-20 cm. long ; blades linear, acute or acuminate, 1-3-nerved, entire or rarely 
remotely toothed, narrowed into margined petioles: scapes erect, solitary or several together, 
5-40 em. tall, surpassing the leaves: spikes dense, 2-15 cm. long, very woolly : bracts rigid, 
about as long as the flowers or slightly longer, linear-subulate, acute, sometimes elongated 
or conspicuous: flowers perfect: calyx-lobes oblong, 2-3 mm. long, obtuse, scarious-mar- 
gined : corolla glabrous ; lobes ovate, spreading: capsules oblong, nearly 3-4 mm. long, 
slightly surpassing the calyx-lobes, circumscissile at the middle: seeds 2, 1.5-2 mm. long, 
light brown. 
On dry plains or prairies, Ontario to British Columbia, Texas and Mexico. Spring and summer. 
11. Plantago verticillàta Morris. Annual, light green, lax, pubescent. Leaves 
basal or nearly so, 8-12 cm. long; blades ascending, linear, acuminate, entire, narrowed 
into long-margined petioles, 3(—5)-nerved : scapes ascending, several, 10-60 cm. long, lax 
yet somewhat surpassing the leaves: spikes slender, with internodes 4—10 mm. long, 
ascending, long-interrupted, cylindrical, 3-7 cm. long, pubescent: bracts slender, herba- 
ceous, spreading, filiform-subulate, 6-14 mm. long, three to five times as long as the flowers: 
flowers perfect : calyx-lobes spatulate-oblong, 2 mm. long, rounded, with scarious margins : 
corolla glabrous; lobes narrowly ovate, 1.5 mm. long, obtuse, reflexed : capsules lanceo- 
late-oblong, about 1.5 mm. long, circumscissile at the lower third: seeds two, dark brown. 
On dry hills, southern Texas. Spring. 
12. Plantago spinulósa Decne. Annual, pale green, pubescent. Leaves basal, 5-12 
em. long; blades linear to spatulate-linear, acuminate and callous-tipped, entire, narrowed 
into margined petioles, 3-nerved : spikes erect, 5-10 cm. high, villous: spikes rather in- 
terrupted, erect, 3-7 em. long, villous: bracts linear-subulate, 7-17 mm. long, spread- 
ing, two to five times as long as the flowers : flowers perfect : calyx-lobes spatulate-oblong, 
2.5 mm. long, obtuse, scarious, with green midribs: corolla glabrous ; lobes ovate, 2.5 mm. 
long, obtuse, cordate: capsules equalling the calyx-lobes, oval, 2.5 mm. long, obtuse, cir- 
cumscissile at the middle: seeds 2, dark brown. 
On high prairies and foothills, Assiniboia to Texas. Spring and summer. 
13. Plantago aristàta Michx. Annual, deep-green, glabrate to villous. Leaves 
nearly basal, 5-25 em. long: blades linear, acuminate, entire and callous-tipped, narrowed 
into margined petioles, 3-5-nerved : scapes erect, solitary or several together, 10-50 cm. 
tall, rigid, surpassing the leaves: spikes dense, 2-15 cm. long, more or less pubescent but 
not woolly : bracts linear, puberulent, 1-3 em. long, surpassing the flowers by many times 
their length : flowers perfect: calyx-lobes spatulate-oblong or cuneate, 2-2.5 mm. long, 
obtuse, the outer herbaceous, the inner widely scarious-margined : corolla glabrous ; lobes 
ovate or orbicular-ovate, 2 mm. long, obtuse, cordate: capsules slightly narrowed upward, 
2.5-3 mm. long, slightly surpassing the calyx-lobes, circumscissile at the middle : seeds 2, 
2-3 mm. long, dark brown. 
In dry soil, Maine to British Columbia and Alaska, south to Florida and New Mexico. Natural 
ized in eastern North America. Spring to fall. 
14. Plantago lanceolàta L. Biennial or perennial, very variable, pubescent. 
Leaves basal, often numerous, 4-30 cm. long; blades linear-elliptic to broadly elliptic, 
acute and callous-tipped at the apex or acuminate at both ends, 3—7-nerved, entire or den- 
ticulate, narrowed into margined petioles ; which are dilated and hairy at the base: scapes 
erect or nearly so, 1-7 dm. tall, ridged : spikes cylindric, dense, 1-8 cm. long, 6-8 mm. 
thick : bracts rhombic, 4-5 mm. long, the tip bent: flowers perfect : calyx-lobes 2-3 ec 
long, broadly oblong to oval, obtuse, the 2 lower ones usually united, their midribs closely 
subparallel : corolla glabrous; lobes broadly lanceolate, 2-2.5 mm. long : capsules oblong, 
3 mm. long, slightly longer than the calyx-lobes, circumscissile at about the middle : see 
2, fully 2 mm. long. 
i In fields and waste peces. New Brunswick to the Northwest Territory and Alaska, south to Flor- 
ida and Kansas. Naturalized from Europe and Asia. Spring to fall. RIB-GRASS. 
15. Plantago sparsiflòra Michx. Perennial, pubescent, or glabrate in age. -— 
basal, 8-30 cm. long; petioles shorter than the blades, margined ; blades Laconia 
very narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 5(-7)-nerved, entire or ded 
denticulate : scapes erect, 2-7 dm. tall, slender, simple: spikes slender, sometimes 3. . 
