2IO 



PLANTAGINACEAE. 



[Vol. III. 



ii. Plantago Virginica L. 



Dwarf or White Dwarf Plantain. (Fig. 3388.) 

 Plantago Virginica L,. Sp. PI. 113. 1753. 



Annual or biennial, pubescent or villous; scapes 

 erect, slender, i / -i8 / high, much longer than the 

 leaves. Leaves spatulate or obovate,obtuse or acu- 

 tish, thin, entire, or repand-denticulate, narrowed 

 into margined petioles, or almost sessile, varying 

 greatly in size, 3-5-nerved, ascending or spreading; 

 spikes very dense, or the lower flowers scattered, 

 linear-cylindric, obtuse, 3" -4" thick, usually \'-&f 

 long, but in dwarf forms reduced to 2-6 flowers; 

 flowers imperfectly dioecious; corolla-lobes of the 

 fertile plants erect and connivent on the top of the 

 pyxis, those of the sterile widely spreading; sta- 

 mens 4; pyxis oblong, about as long as the calyx, 

 appearing beaked by the connivent corolla-lobes, 

 2-4-seeded. 



In dry soil, Connecticut to Florida, west to Illinois, 

 Missouri, Arizona and northern Mexico. March-July. 



Plantago occidentalis Dec. (P. Virginica var. longi- 

 folia A. Gray), of the Southwest, with larger leaves, 

 longer spikes and larger flowers may be specifically distinct. It is reported from Missouri. 



12. Plantago elongata Pursh. Slender 

 Plantain. (Fig. 3389.) 



Plantago elongata Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 729. 1814. 

 Plantago pusilla Nutt. Gen. 1: 100. 1818. 



Annual, puberulent; scapes filiform, 2 / -y / high, 

 longer than the linear-filiform, mostly entire, blunt- 

 pointed obscurely i-nerved leaves. Leaves about 

 y 2 " wide; spikes slender, linear, rather loosely 

 flowered, >^ / -3 / long, i>^ // -2 // thick; flowers im- 

 perfectly dioecious, or polygamous; sepals oblong, 

 obtuse, about as long as the bract, scarious-mar- 

 gined; corolla-lobes of the more fertile plants be- 

 coming erect over the pyxis; stamens 2; pyxis 

 ovoid-oblong, obtuse, one-fourth to one-third longer 

 than the calyx, about 4-seeded, circumscissile at 

 about the middle; seeds nearly flat on both sides. 



In dry sandy soil, southern New York to Virginia 

 and Louisiana, west to Illinois, Oregon, Utah and 

 Texas. April-Aug. 



13. Plantago heterophylla Nutt. Many- 

 seeded Plantain. (Fig. 3390.) 

 Plantago heterophylla Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. (II.) 



5: 177- 1833-37. 



Annual, similar to the preceding species, but 

 glabrous or slightly puberulent; scapes ascending or 

 spreading, equalling or exceeding the leaves, 2 / -io / 

 long. Leaves narrowly linear or filiform, the larger 

 about 2" wide, entire or often with several distant 

 small teeth or linear lobes; spikes loose, linear, 

 ^ / ~5 / long; sepals oblong, obtuse, scarious-mar- 

 gined, mostly shorter than the bract; corolla-lobes 

 in the more fertile plants becoming erect over the 

 pyxis; stamens 2; pyxis oblong, subacute, about 

 twice as long as the calyx, 7-30-seeded, circumscis- 

 sile rather below the middle; seeds somewhat 

 angled, scarcely concave on the face. 



In moist soil, New Jersey to Florida, west to' Ala- 

 bama, Texas and southern California. April-July. 



