PLANTAGINACK/E. (PI.ANTAIN FAMILY.} 311 



§ 1. Flowers all perfect and alike, and with the 4 stamens and fiiform stigma much 

 erserted, but diriwijumotts, i. e. with the stiijma cxsertnl from the tip of tin- corolla a 

 duji or so before it expands and the anthers are hun;/ out (an arrangement for crosr- 

 fertilization) : tobts of the corolla spreading or rejlexed after Jiowering. 



* Leaves 5 - 1-ribbid, mostli/ broad : spike long and slcmler, smooth : seeds not concave 



on the inner face: root perennial, or perhaps annual in No. 2 and 3. 



1. P. M.Vjon, L. (Common Plantaix.) Smooth or ratlmr hairy, rarely 

 rounhi.sli ; leaves ovate, obloii},^ oval, or sliijhtly heart-shaped, often toothed, 

 abruptly narrowed into a ehainielled petiole; spike dense; }X)d 7 -16-seedcd. — 

 Moist {^rounds, everywhere near dwellings. June - Sept. — A small and rougher 

 form in salt marsiies. (Nat. from Eu., but probably indigenous high north.) 



2. P. KamtscuAt'ca, Cham. Much resembles small forms of the preced- 

 ing; but sepals and bract narrower, and pod 4-seeded. (P. Kugelii, Uecaisne.) 

 — Buttalo, N. Y., Mr. Dag, and sparingly in the south. (Apparently adv.) 



3. P. sparsiflbra, Michx. Slender (3' -18' high), smoothish or hairy; 

 leaves lanceolate or vlilong, 3 - 5-ncrvcd, tapering to both ends, denticulate or entire ; 

 spike spitrsilg-Jluirercd, very slender; lobes of the corolla acute; pod 2-seedeJ. — 

 Mound City, Illinois (Dr. Vaseg), and southward. July -Sept. 



4. P. COrdata, Lam. Tall, glabrous; leaves heart-shaped or ronnd-ovate 

 (3' - 8' long), long-pctioled, the ribs rising from the midrib ; spike at length loosely 

 flowered ; bracts round-ovate, flfshy ; pod 2 - 4-seeded. — Along rivulets, New York 

 to Wisconsin (rare), and southward. April -June. 



* ♦ Leaves linear, thick and flesliy, ivithout I'ibs, or when dry obscurely 3-nerved: spike 



slender: tube, of the corolla hairy below: seeds not hollowed. 



5. P. maritima, L., var. juncoides. Smooth, or the scape slightly pu- 

 bescent; leaves flat or tlnttisii anil eliaiinelled,, erect, nearly as long as the scape 

 (5'- 12'), mostly entire; pud 2-eelled or iiu.omi)leteiy 3 -4-cel led, 2 -4-seeded ; 

 root on our coast annual or liiennial. (P. juncoides, Litm.) — Salt marshes, from 

 New Jer.'-ey northward. Near Boston a dejjauperate form, 2' -5' high, littlo 

 fleshy, grows in sand beyond the influence of salt water (D. Murray). The per- 

 ennial P. maritima occurs in New Brunswick, &c., perhaps in Maine. 



* » « Leaves 3-5-riblKd, narrow: spike thick arid dense, at first or throughout very 



short: two of the scarious sepals generally united into one: seeds only 2, hollowed 

 on the inner face. 



6. P. lanceolXta, L. (RincRASs. Rii-plegrass. English Plantain.) 

 Mostly hairy ; scape groovcd-angled, at length much longer than the lanceolate 

 or lance-oblong leaves, slender (9' -2° high); root perennial. — Dry fields: 

 common eastward. (Nat. from En.) 



§ 2. Flowers of two .<>orts on dislinrt plants, apparently polygamo-dimions ; the mostly 

 sterile with thf tismd large anthers on long rnpillari/ flanifnts, and the lolxs of the 

 corolla refi'xedor spreading ; the truly fitilc with minute anthers on short imlmlid 

 filaments, and the corolla usually closing periuanmlli/ oinr the apex of the fruit : 

 seeds not hollou-e<l on the fare: small annuals or biennials. 

 * Stamens 4 : spike dens(^ 



7. P. Virginica, L. Hairy or honry-jmbescent (2'-9' high); leaves ob- 

 long, varying to obovate and spatulate-lanccolatc, 3 -5-ncrvcd, sligiitly or 



