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 K. & 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 cm. 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 verticillata 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 &s the flowers : 

 flowers perfect : calyx-lobes gpatulate-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 spinulosa Decne. Annual, pale green, pubescent. Leaves basal, 5-12 

 cm. 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 cm. 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 aristata Michx. Annual, deep-green, glabrate to villous. Leaves 

 nearly basal, 5-25 cm. 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, '^-15 cm. long, more or less pubescent but 

 not woolly : bracts linear, puberulent, 1-3 cm. 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 lanceolata 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 mm. 

 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 : seeds 

 2, fully 2 mm. long. 



In fields and waste places. 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 sparsiflora Michx. Perennial, pubescent, or glabrate in age. Leaves 

 basal, 8-30 cm. long ; petioles shorter than the blades, margined ; blades lanceolate to 

 very narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 5(-7)-nerved, entire or indistinctly 

 denticulate : scapes erect, 2-7 dm. tall, slender, simple : spikes slender, sometimes 3.8 dm. 



