Genus i. 



PLANTAIN FAMILY 



5. Plantago eriopoda Torr. Saline Plantain. 

 Fig. 3902. 



Plantago glabra Nutt. Gen. I: 100. 1818? 



Plantago eriopoda Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 2 : 237. 1827. 



Perennial, succulent ; rootstock long, usually densely 

 covered with long brown hairs among the bases of 

 the leaves. Leaves oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or ob- 

 lanceolate, entire, or repand-dentate, acute at the 

 apex, narrowed into petioles, 5-9-ribbed, 3'-l2' long, 

 -i wide, glabrous or very nearly so; scapes stout, 

 more or less pubescent, longer than the leaves, 6'-i8' 

 high; spikes l'-S' long, dense above, the lower flowers 

 scattered ; flowers perfect ; sepals distinct, oblong- 

 obovate with a narrow green midrib and broad scari- 

 ous margins; corolla glabrous, its lobes spreading or 

 reflexed ; pyxis ovoid-oblong, very obtuse, one-third 

 longer than the calyx, 2-4-seeded, circumscissile be- 

 low the middle, seeds nearly flat. 



In maritime or saline soil, Nova Scotia and Quebec 

 to Minnesota, Athabasca, Colorado and California. 

 June-Sept. 



Plantago sparsiflora Michx., of the Southeastern 

 States, admitted into our first edition as found in southern 

 Illinois, is not known to range north of North Carolina. 



6. Plantago cordata Lam. Heart-leaved 

 Plantain. Water Plantain. Fig. 3903. 



Plantago cordata Lam. Tabl. Encycl. 1 : 338. 1791. 



Perennial, glabrous, purple-green ; rootstock short, 

 very stout. Leaves broadly ovate or nearly orbicu- 

 lar, pinnately veined, obtuse or acute at the apex, 

 entire or dentate, rounded, abruptly narrowed, or 

 cordate at the base, often 10' long; petioles stout, 

 margined above ; scapes stout, longer than the 

 leaves; spikes loosely flowered, sometimes 1 long, 

 with interrupted clusters; flowers perfect; sepals 

 ovate to obovate, obtuse, green ; corolla-lobes spread- 

 ing; pyxis ovoid-globose, obtuse, circumscissile at 

 or slightly below the middle, 1-4-seeded; seeds not 

 excavated on the face. 



In swamps and along streams, Ontario to New York. 

 Alabama, Minnesota, Missouri and Louisiana. March- 

 July. 



7. Plantago maritima L. Sea or Seaside Plantain. Fig. 3904. 



Plantago maritima L. Sp. PI. 114. 1753. 



Plantago decipiens Barneoud. Mon. Plantag. 16. 1845. 



P. borealis Lange, Fl. Dan. pi. >jo~. 



Annual, biennial, or perennial, fleshy; rootstock 

 stout or slender, sometimes with tufts of whitish 

 hairs among the bases of the leaves. Leaves linear, 

 glabrous, very obscurely nerved, sessile, or narrowed 

 into short margined petioles, 2'-io' long, entire, or 

 with a few small teeth, l"-2i" wide; scapes slender, 

 more or less pubescent, longer than or equalling the 

 leaves; spikes dense, linear-cylindric, blunt, l'-S' 

 long; flowers perfect; sepals ovate-lanceolate to 

 nearly orbicular, green, somewhat keeled ; corolla 

 pubescent without, its lobes spreading ; pyxis ovoid- 

 oblong, obtuse, 2-4-seeded, circumscissile at about 

 the middle, nearly twice as long as the calyx ; seeds 

 nearly flat on the face. 



In' salt marshes and on sea-shores, Greenland and 

 Labrador to New Jersey, and on the Pacific Coast from 

 Alaska to California. Also on the coasts of Europe and 

 Asia. Consists of several slightly differing races. 

 Buckshorn. Gibbals. Sea-kemps. June-Sept. 



