214 TETRANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Plantaoo 



&^ 



In meadows, pastures, waste and cultivated ground, common. 



Perennial. All Summer. 



Root of many long stout fibres. Stem none. Leaves numerous, 

 broad, with 7 or 9 ribs, on channelled ribbed stalks, often longer 

 than themselves ; the margins wavy, or variously toothed, Fl. 

 small, whitish, with reddish anthers, very numerous j imbricated 

 in the bud ; afterwards more distant ; composing several long 

 spikes, each on a simple, naked, radical stalk. Caps, membranous, 

 small, oval, pointed, with several angular seeds in each cell, 

 which are the food of small birds. The rose-shaped variety, and 

 the panicled one, are often kept in gardens, for the sake of 

 curiosity, and afford remarkable instances of vegetable trans- 

 formation. 



This species, like the whole genus in general, is mucilaginous and 

 somewhat astringent} qualities which render it a, not altogether 

 useless, rustic medicine. 



2. P. 7nedia. Hoary Plantain. 



Leaves ovate, dov/ny, with very short footstalks. Flower- 

 stalks round. Spike cylindrical. Seeds solitar}^ 



P. media. Linn. Sp. Pl.\Q^. Willd. v. \ .642. Fl. Br. \S3. Engl. 

 Bot. V. 22. t. 1559. Curt. Lond.fasc. 4. t. 14. Hook. Scot. 53. 

 Fl. Dan. t.5S]. Camer. Epit. 262./. Ehrh. PI. Off. 342. 



P. major incana. Raii Syn. 314. 



P. major. Matth. Valgr. v. 1. 436./. Brunf. Herb. v. 1. 23./. 



P. incana. Ger. Em. 419./ 



In dry pastures, on chalky or gravelly hills, abundantly. 



Perennial. June — August. 



Root rather woody. Leaves all pressed close to the ground, hoary, 

 entire, with 5 or 7 ribs. Flowerstalks taller than the foregoing, 

 hoary. Spike shorter and thicker, very dense in eveiy part. Cor. 

 membranous and silvery in appearance, with shining, pink sta- 

 mens, and whitish, pointed anthers. Seeds one in each cell, semi- 

 cylindrical. 



The Hoary Plantain, a great and lasting nuisance in fine grass- 

 plats, is best killed by a drop of vitriolic acid on the crown of 

 the root, which it never long survives. Its medical qualities are 

 like the former. 



3. P. lanceolata. Ribwort Plantain. 



Leaves lanceolate, entire, tapering at each end ; woolly at 

 the base. Flowerstalks angular. Spike ovate. 



P. lanceolata. Linn. Sp. PI. 164. Willd. v. 1. 643. FL Br. 184. 



Engl. Bot. V. 8. t. 507. Curt. Lond.fasc. 2. t. 10. Mart. Rust. 



t.67. Hook. Scot. 54. Fl. Dan. t. 437. Ehrh. PL Off. 352. " 

 P. n. 656, Hall.HisL v. 1.292. 



