Genus i. 



PLANTAIN FAMILY 



ii. Plantago pusilla Nutt. Slender Plantain. 

 Fig. 3908. 



Plantago pusilla Nutt. Gen. 1: 100. 1818. 



Annual, puberulent; scapes filiform, 2-7' high, 

 longer than the linear-filiform, mostly entire, blunt- 

 pointed obscurely i-nerved leaves. Leaves about 4" 

 wide; spikes slender, linear, rather loosely flowered, 

 -3' long, li"-2" thick; flowers imperfectly dioecious 

 or polygamous ; sepals oblong, obtuse, about as long 

 as the bract, scarious-margined ; corolla-lobes of the 

 more fertile plants becoming erect over the pyxis ; 

 stamens 2 ; pyxis ovoid-oblong, obtuse, one-fourth to 

 one-third longer than the calyx, about 4-seeded, cir- 

 cumscissile at about the middle; seeds nearly flat on 

 both sides. 



In dry sandy soil, Massachusetts to Georgia, Illinois, 

 Kansas and Texas. April-Aug. 



Plantago elongata Pursh, to which this was referred in our first edition, differs by larger 

 seeds and saccate bracts, and enters our western limits in Nebraska. 



12. Plantago heterophylla Nutt. Many- 

 seeded Plantain. Fig. 3909. 



Plantago heterophylla Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II.) 



5: 1/7- I833-37- 



Annual, similar to the preceding species, but gla- 

 brous or slightly puberulent ; scapes ascending or 

 spreading, equalling or exceeding the leaves, 2'-io' 

 long. Leaves narrowly linear or filiform, the larger 

 about 2" wide, entire or often with several distant 

 small teeth or linear lobes; spikes loose, linear, J'-S' 

 long ; sepals oblong, obtuse, scarious-margined, mostly 

 shorter than the bract; corolla-lobes in the more fer- 

 tile plants becoming erect over the pyxis; stamens 2; 

 pyxis oblong, subacute, about twice as long as the 

 calyx, 7-30-seeded, circumscissile rather below the 

 middle ; seeds somewhat angled, scarcely concave on 

 the face. 



In moist soil, New Jersey to Florida, Illinois, Arkan- 

 sas, Texas and apparently introduced in California. 

 April-July. 



13. Plantago arenaria W. & K Sand Plantain. 

 Fig. 3910. 



Plantago arenaria W. & K. PI. Rar. Hung. 1: 51. 

 1802. 



pl- 51. 



Annual, pubescent, somewhat viscid; stem simple, or 

 commonly becoming much branched, leafy, 3-15' high. 

 Leaves opposite, or whorled, narrowly linear, entire, 

 sessile, l'-3' long, about 1" wide; peduncles axillary, 

 often umbellate at the ends of the stem and branches, 

 slender, as long as the leaves or longer; heads of flowers 

 conic, oval, or subglobose, 5"-l" long, about 5" thick; 

 lower bracts acute or acuminate; calyx-lobes unequal; 

 corolla-lobes ovate to lanceolate, acute ; capsule 2-seeded. 



Fields, Dayton, Ohio, and Lancaster County, Pennsylva- 

 nia. Adventive from central Europe. Summer. 



