268 PLANTAGINACEAE. 



1. PLANTAGO [Tourn.] L. Caulescent or usually acaulescent herbs. 

 Leaf-blades broad or narrow. Spikes usually elongate. Filaments partially 

 adnate to the corolla-tube. PLANTAIN. 



Plants acaulescent : spikes terminating basal scapes. 



Corolla-lobes erect, and converging over the top of the pyxis. 1. P. virgin-tea. 

 Corolla-lobes permanently spreading or reflexed. 

 Pyxis 2-4-seeded. 



Plants annual : spike conspicuously long-bracted. 2. P. aristata. 



Plants perennial : spike inconspicuously short-bracted. 3. P. lanceolata. 

 Pyxis many-seeded. 



Pyxis conic to oblong-conic, circumscissile beloxv the 



middle. 5. P. major. 



Pyxis ovoid, circumscissile at about the middle. 6. P. arenaria. 



Plants caulescent : spikes terminating axillary peduncles. 4. P. Rugelii. 



1. P. virginica L. Annual or biennial, very variable, glabrate to rather coarsely 

 pubescent. Leaves basal, spreading or ascending, 1-15 cm. long; blades spatu- 

 late to obovate or elliptic, obtuse or acutish, entire or repand- denticulate, 3-5- 

 nerved, narrowed into margined petioles or nearly sessile: scapes erect or as- 

 cending, 0.5-20 dm. tall, much surpassing the leaves: spikes dense, sometimes 

 interrupted below: flowers dioecious: bracts linear-lanceolate to lanceolate: 

 calyx-lobes oblong or ovate, 2-2.5 mm. long, obtuse, scarious-margined, sur- 

 passing the bracts: corollas various, those of staminate flowers with spreading 

 lobes, those of pistillate flowers with lobes usually unequally erect after ferti- 

 lization: pyxis ovoid or oval-ovoid, 1.5-2 mm. long, circumscissile at about the 

 middle : seeds 2-4, 1.3 mm. long, golden-yellow. Common, in old fields and 

 on dry banks. Spr. and sum. 



2. P. aristata Michx. Annual, deep-green, glabrate to villoue. Leaves nearly, 

 basal, 5-25 cm. long; blades linear, acuminate, entire and callous-tipped, nar- 

 rowed into margined petioles, 3-5-nerved: scapes erect, solitary or several 

 together, 10-15 cm. tall, rigid, surpassing the leaves: spikes dense, 2-15 cm. 

 long, more or less pubescent but not woolly: bracts linear, puberulent, 1-3 cm. 

 long, surpassing the flowers by many times their length: flowers perfect: 

 calyx-lobes spatulate-oblong or cuneate, 2-2.5 mm. long, obtuse, the outer 

 herbaceous, the inner widely scarious-margined: corolla glabrous; lobes ovate 

 or orbicular-ovate, 2 mm. long, obtuse, cordate: pyxis slightly narrowed up- 

 ward, 2.5-3 mm. long, slightly surpassing the calyx-lobes, circumscissile at 

 the middle: seeds 2, 2-3 mm. long, dark-brown. S. Eare, in fields. Nat. 

 of the West. Sum. 



3. P. lanceolata L. Perennial, very variable, pubescent. Leaves basal, often 

 numerous, 4-30 cm. long; blades linear-elliptic to broadly elliptic, acute and 

 callous-tipped at the apex, or acuminate at both ends, 3-7-nerved, entire or 

 denticulate, narrowed into margined petioles, which are dilated and hairy at 

 the base: scapes erect or nearly so, 1-7 dm. tall, ridged: spikes cylindric, 

 dense, 1-8 cm. long, 6-8 mm. thick: bracts rhombic, 4-5 mm. long, the tips 

 bent: flowers perfect: calyx-lobes 2-3 mm. long, broadly oblong to oval, obtuse, 

 the 2 lower ones usually united, their midribs closely subparallel: corolla 

 glabrous; lobes broadly lanceolate, 2-2.5 mm. long: pyxis oblong, 3 mm. long, 

 slightly longer than the calyx-lobes, circumscissile at about the middle: seeds 

 2, fully 2 mm. long. Common, in fields and waste places. Nat. of Eu. 

 Spr. and sum. KIB-GRASS. ENGLISH-PLANTAIN. RIPPLE-GRASS. 



4. P. Rugelii Deene. Perennial, bright-green, glabrous or minutely pubescent. 

 Leaves basal, 5-40 cm. long; petioles flatened or channeled on the upver e:i<le, 

 usually purple at the base; blades broadly ovate to oblong, longer than the 

 petioles or sometimes shorter, 5-7-nerved, entire or shallowly toothed, cune- 

 ately or abruptly narrowed at the base: scapes erect or ascending, solitary 

 or several together, often surpassing the leaves, 10-50 cm. tall: spikes 230 

 cm. long, sometimes broadly bracted at the base: bracts fully half as long as 

 the calyx-lobes, acute: flowers perfect: calyx-lobes oblong, acute, 2-2.5 mm. 



