PLANTAGINACE^— PLANTAIN 

 FAMILY 



COMMON PLANTAIN 



Plantdgo major 



Plantago, the Latin name, of obscure meaning. 



Perennial, with a short, thick rootstock. Naturalized 

 from Europe. A well known, stemless herb often a very 

 troublesome weed. May-September. 



Leaves. — Long-petioled, ovate or oblong, entire or 

 coarsely dentate, ribbed. 



Flowers. — Greenish white, small, in a long, slender, 

 obtuse spike; often a stain of purple about the flowers. 



Calyx. — Four, small, obovate, persistent sepals. 



Corolla. — Greenish white, rotate, four-parted, wither- 

 ing on the pod. 



Stamens. — Four, inserted on the corolla; anthers long, 

 exserted after the corolla has opened. 



Pistil. — Ovary two-celled; style at first projecting 

 from the unopened corolla. 



Fruit. — Ovoid capsule, cut across near the middle; 

 eight to twenty-seeded. 



Pollinated by flies. Stigma matures before the stamens. 



"Wheresoe'er they tread, beneath them 

 Springs a flower unknown among us, 

 Springs the White Man's foot in blossom." 



• "Hiawatha" — Longfellow. 



Plantain is a weed of civilization, haunting the 

 paths of man, it loves the places where he walks and 

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