138 FARM WEEDS OF CANADA 



RIBGRASS (Plantago lanceolata L.) 



Other English names: Buckhorn, English Plantain, Ribwort. 



Introduced from Europe. Perennial or biennial. Root- 

 stock short. Leaves numerous, 2 to 12 inches long, narrowly 

 lance-shaped and distinctly 3 to 5-ribbed, hairy, with tufts 

 of brownish hair at the base. In the first year the leaves lie 

 close to the ground, forming a dense rosette; on old plants 

 they are erect. Flower stalks stiff, slender and grooved, 1 to 

 2 feet, much taller than the leaves. Flower heads at first ovoid 

 and rather showy by reason of their numerous yellow stamens, 

 elongating with age and forming dense, cjdindrical, black spikes 

 of seed, from 1 to 4 inches long. Capsules oblong, obtuse, 2- 

 seeded, opening about the middle. 



The seed (Plate 75, fig. 70) is about 1/10 inch long, chestnut 

 brown, minutely granular-roughened but highly polished, boat- 

 shaped with rounded ends, the outer face rounded with the 

 edges folded inward around a deep, longitudinal groove, in the 

 centre of which lies the dark-coloured scar which sometimes has 

 a pale ring of dried mucilage around it. 



Time of flowering: Throughout the summer; seed ripe by 

 July. 



Propagation: By seeds. 



Occurrence: Throughout Canada; most abundant in clover 

 crops. 



Injury: In Europe, Ribgrass is considered a valuable forage 

 plant for some soils; its seed is an article of commerce and largely 

 used in mixtures for pasture lands. In Canada it is an injurious 

 weed in clover and meadows for hay or seed crop. The seeds are 

 very common in red clover seed. 



Remedy: Sow clean seed. In common with other species 

 of plantain, this weed is easily suppressed by hoed crop and 

 short rotation. It is prevalent almost exclusively in clover 



