PLANTAGINACEJE. (PLANTAIN FAMII.V.) IJ.'J 



exseited filaments, and fugacious 2-celle(l anthers. Ovary 2- (or iu n. 5 falsely 

 3 - 4-) celled, witli 1 - sevenil ovules iu each cell. Style and long hairy stipjma 

 single, filifurni. Capsule 2-celled, 2-scveral-seedLMl, opening transverielv, so 

 that the top falls off like a lid and the loose partition (which bears the peltate 

 seeds) falls away. Embryo straight, in fleshy albumen. — Leaves ribbed. 

 Flowers whitisli, small, in a bracted spike or head, raised on a naked .scape. 

 (The Latiu name.) 



§ 1. Stamens 4; Jioivers all perftct ; corolla not closed over thej'ntit. 

 * Flowers proterogynous, the st/jlejirst projecting from the unopened corolla, the 



anthers long-exserted ajler the corolla has opened ; seeds not hollowed on the 



face {except in P. lanceolata). 



-t- Corolla glabrous; leaves si ronglg ribbed ; perennial. 

 ++ Ribs of the broad lea res rising from the midrib. 



1. P. COrdata, Lam. Tall, glabrous ; leaves heart-shaped or round-ovate 

 (3-8' lon2;), loiig-pctioled ; spike at length loosely Howered ; bracts round- 

 ovate, flesliy; capsule 2-4-secdcd. — Along streams, N. Y. to Minn., and 

 southward. 



•*-<• ■*-*■ Ribs of the leaf free to the contracted base. 



2. P. major, L. (Common Plantain.) Smooth or rather hairy, rarely 

 roughish; leaves ovate, oblong, oval, or slightly heart-shaped, often tootiied, 

 abruptly narrowed into a channelled petiole; spike dense, obtuse ; sepals round- 

 ovate orobovate; capsule ovoid, circumscissile near the middle, 8- 18-seeded ; 

 seeds angled, reticulated. — Waysides and near dwellings everywhere. Doubt- 

 less introduced from Eu., but native from L. Superior and N. Minn., northward. 



3. P. Rugelii, Decaisne. Leaves as in the last, but paler and thinner; 

 s/>iL-es long and thin, attenuate at the apex; sepals oblong, acutely carinate ■ 

 capsules cglindraceous-oblong, circumscissile much below the middle, 4 -9-seeded ; 

 seeds oval-oblong, not reticulated. (P. Kamtschatica, Grog, Man., not Cham.) 

 — Vt. to Minn., south to Ga. and Tex. 



4 P. eriopoda, Torr. UsuaUg a mass of gellowish wool at the Ixtse ; 

 leaves thickish, oblanceolate to obovate, with short stout petioles; spike den.se or 

 loose; sepals and bract more or less scarious but not carinate; capsule ovoid, 

 never over 4-seeded. — Moist and saline soil; Red Kiver valley, Minn., and 

 westward ; also on the Lower St. Lawrence. 



P. lanceolXta, L. (Rnj(;nASS. Ripim.kgrass. English Plantain.) 

 Mostly hairy ; scape grooved-angled, at length much longer tlian the tauceo- 

 late or lance-oblong teares, slender (9'- 2° high) ; s}»ike dense, at first ca|)itate, 

 in age cylindrical; l)ract and sepals scarious, l»rownish; seeds 2, hollowed on 

 the face. — \'ery common. (Nat. from V,\x.) 



-■- -t- Corolla-tube externallg pubescent; leaves linear or fibform, flesh g, indis- 

 tinctlg ribbeel ; seeds 2-4; maritime, eiften woollg at base. 



5. P. decipiens, Barncoud. .4 nn»/a/, or sometimes biennial with a stout 

 rootstock, smootli, or the scape pubescent ; leaves fiat or fiattish and channelled, 

 erect, nearly as lung as the scape (5- 12'), acuminate ; s|)ike sh^nder, rather 

 loose. (P. maritima, var. juncoides, Grag, Man.) — Salt marshes, Atlantic 

 coast, from Labrador to X. J. The characters distinguishijig biennial speci- 

 mens of this from the next are obscure. 



