278 
EBENACEJE. (EBONY FAMILY.) 
parted ; corolla between bell-shaped and urn-shaped ; styles 4, 2-lob- 
ed at the apex. — Woods and old fields, Rhode Island and New York 
to Ohio and southward. June. — The Persimmon is a small tree with 
thickish leaves, a greenish-yellow leathery corolla, and a plum-like 
fruit, 1' in diameter, which is exceedingly astringent when green, 
golden-yellow when ripe, and sweet and edible after exposure to frost. 
Order 62. PEANTAGINACEiE. (Plantain Fam.) 
Chiefly stemless herbs , with regular 4-merous spiked flow¬ 
ers, the stamens inserted on the tube of the dry and mem¬ 
branaceous veinless monopetalous corolla alternate with its 
lobes ; — chiefly represented by the genus 
1. PLANTAGO, L. Plantain. Ribgrass. 
Calyx of 4 imbricated persistent sepals, with dry membrana¬ 
ceous margins. Corolla tubular, withering on the pod, the border 
4-parted. Stamens 4, generally with long and weak filaments, 
and fugacious anthers. Pod 2-celled, 2- several-seeded, opening 
all round by a transverse line so that the top falls off like a lid, 
and the loose partition (which bears the amphitropous albuminous 
seeds) falls away. — Leaves all from the root, ribbed. Flowers 
whitish, small, in a bracted spike raised on a naked scape. (The 
Latin name of the Plantain.) 
* Pod 8-\2-seeded: perennial. 
L P* major, L. (Common Plantain.) Smooth or hair) ) 
leaves oval or ovate, somewhat toothed, 5- 7-nerved, abruptly nar¬ 
rowed into a channelled petiole ; spike long, cylindrical, densely flow 
ered; stamens and style long. _ Rich moist soil, about footpaths 
near houses; doubtless brought from Europe. June-Sept. — Small 
forms are often found with the spikes only £'-2' long, and the stalks 
and leaves small in proportion. 
* * Pod 2- 4-seeded : perennial. 
2. P # cord ft ta, Lam. (Heart-leaved Plantain.) Smooth, 
leaves ovate and mostly heart-shaped , scarcely toothed, thickish, on 
long stout petioles; the 6-8 ribs or veins confluent below with the 
thick midrib; spike elongated , at length rather loose, or interrupt® 
near the base, the rounded bracts, as well as the calyx and coro a 
lobes, very obtuse ; seeds mostly 4. —Rivulets, New York (rare), and 
Ohio to Wisconsin. April-June. — Leaves 3'-8' long. Scapes 
stout, l°-2° high. 
3. P. lanceolftta, Linn. (Lance-leaved Plantain. R ib ' 
