820 



Plantaginaceae; Rubiaceae 



1. Plantago asiatica L. P. major var. asiatica (L.) 

 Decne.; P. asiatica var. densiuscula Pilger; P. asiatica var. 

 lobulata Pilger; P. yezoensis Pilger; P. asiatica var. yesoensis 

 (Pilger) Hara; P. mohm\ei Miq.; P. major forma contorta 



Makino; P. contorta (Makino) Ikeno Oba-ko. Perennial; 



leaves thinly herbaceous, radical, rosulate, ovate or broadly so, 

 rarely elliptic, 5-15 cm. long, 3-8 cm. wide, obtuse, with few 

 parallel nerves, abruptly long-petiolate, glabrous or nearly so, 

 the petioles dilated; scapes few to many, 10-50 cm. long, erect; 

 spikes solitary, densely many-flowered, usually glabrous, the 

 bracts narrowly ovate, shorter than the calyx, obtusely keeled 

 on back, slightly dilated at base; flowers sessile; calyx-seg- 

 ments obovate-elliptic, about 2 mm. long, rounded at apex, 

 white-scarious, green, with a stout rib on back; stamens long- 

 exserted, the anthers cordate-orbicular, mucronate; capsules 

 ovoid-oblong, nearly twice as long as the calyx; seeds 4-6, 



rarely 8-10, black-brown, elliptic, planoconvex. Apr.-Oct. 



Woods and waste grounds in lowlands and mountains; Hok- 

 kaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu; very common and variable. 



s. Korea, Kuriles, Sakhalin, Ryukyus, Formosa, China, e. 



Siberia, and Malaysia. 



Var. yakusimensis (Masam.) Ohwi. P. ya\usimensis 

 Masam. Yakushima-6ba-ko. Plant smaller; leaves soft- 

 pubescent. Honshu (Izu Isls.), Kyushu (Yakushima). 



2. Plantago major L. var. japonica (Fr. & Sav.) Miyabe. 

 P. japonica Fr. & Sav. T6-6ba-ko. Usually glabrous per- 

 ennial; leaves rather thick-herbaceous, ovate or ovate-elliptic, 

 10-30 cm. long, 5-15 cm. wide, few-nerved, subobtuse, long- 

 petiolate; scapes erect, few, 50-100 cm. long, rather stout; 

 spikes erect, usually glabrous, brownish when dry, the bracts 

 narrowly ovate, obtuse, obtusely keeled on back, rarely slightly 

 gibbous; calyx-segments elliptic, about 2 mm. long, rounded at 

 apex, more or less white-scarious on margin; capsules ellip- 

 soidal, about twice as long as the calyx; seeds about 10, small, 



dark brown, plano-convex, 0.8-1.2 mm. long. July-Aug. 



Wet places in lowlands near the sea; Honshu, Shikoku, Kyu- 

 shu. ^Forma yezomaritima (Koidz.) Ohwi. P. yezomarit- 



ima Koidz.; P. japonica var. yezomaritima (Koidz.) Hara 



Teriha-oba-ko. Leaves thicker. Wet places near 



the sea; Hokkaido. 



Plantago togashii Miyabe & Tatew. Iso-oba-ko. A 

 smaller plant; leaves to 10 cm. long; scapes 10-20 cm. long. 



Resembles forma yezomaritima of the preceding species 



and possibly not distinct from it. Reported from Hokkaido 

 (Okushirilsl.). 



3. Plantago camtschatica Cham. P. villijera Franch.; 



P. depressa subsp. camtschatica (Link) Pilger Ezo-6ba-ko. 



White-pubescent, rarely glabrescent perennial with thick rhi- 

 zomes; leaves oblong to narrowly so, 5-10 cm. long, 2.5-4 cm. 

 wide, acute, short-petiolate and slightly dilated at base, few- 

 nerved; scapes erect, 15-30 cm. long; spike solitary, 3-10 cm. 

 long, densely many-flowered, the bracts glabrous, elliptic or 

 ovate, shorter than the calyx; calyx glabrous, ellipsoidal, 2-2.5 

 mm. long, the segments very obtuse, white-scarious on margin, 

 with a broad green midrib; capsules narrowly ovoid or ovoid- 

 oblong, 1.5-2 times as long as the calyx; seeds 4, elliptic or 



ovate, dark brown, 1.2-1.5 mm. long. ^May-Aug. Along 



sandy seashores; Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu. ^Forma 



glabra (Makino & Honda) Ohwi. P. camtschatica var. glabra 

 Makino & Honda Ke-nashi-Ezo-6ea-ko. Plant glabres- 

 cent. Korea, Sakhalin, Kuriles, and Ochotsk Sea region. 



Plantago depressa Willd. Mujina-oba-ko. Closely allied 

 to the preceding species, but with smaller flowers and anthers. 

 Sparingly naturalized in our area. n. China, Korea, Man- 

 churia, and e. Siberia. 



4. Plantago hakusanensis Koidz. P. mohni\ei sensu 



auct. Japon., non Miq. Hakusan-6ba-ko. Rhizomes short 



and stout; leaves slightly fleshy, soft, elliptic to oblong, 3-5 (-8) 

 cm. long, 2-3 (-4) cm. wide, few-nerved, glabrous or loosely 

 pubescent, narrowed to a rather short petiolelike base; scapes 

 7-12 cm. long, slender, glabrous, often ascending from base; 

 spikes simple, loosely 10- to 20-flowered, the bracts broadly 

 ovate, broadly thin-scarious on margin, as long as to shorter 

 than the calyx; calyx-segments elliptic, 2-2.5 mm. long, with a 

 broad green back, rounded at apex; anthers cordate-orbicular, 

 rather large; capsules 1.5-2 times as long as the calyx, ovoid- 

 ellipsoid; seeds solitary, oblong, black-brown, about 2 mm. 



long, slightly depressed on the ventral side. July-Aug. 



Wet alpine slopes on Japan Sea side; Honshu (centr. and n. 

 distr.). 



5. Plantago lanceolata L. Hera-6ba-ko. More or 

 less white-pubescent perennial with thick rhizomes; leaves 

 erect, lanceolate, 10-20 cm. long, 1.5-3 cm. wide, acute or 

 gradually so, few-nerved, gradually narrowed to a long petiole; 

 scapes erect, 40-60 cm. long; inflorescence densely many- 

 flowered, narrowly ovoid in anthesis, slightly elongate and 

 short-cylindric in fruit, 3-5 cm. long, the bracts nearly orbicu- 

 lar, mucronate, as long as to slightly longer than the calyx, 

 thinly scarious, translucent, with a narrow midrib; calyx- 

 segments thinly scarious, translucent, about 2.5 mm. long, 

 rounded at apex, with a narrow green loosely pilose midrib; 

 style very long; anthers ovoid, 2-2.5 mm. long, short-mucro- 

 nate, cordate at base; capsules ovoid-globose; seeds 2, black- 

 brown, oblong, 1.7-2 mm. long, with a broad groove on the 



ventral face. June-Aug. Widely naturalized; introduced 



from Europe. 



6. Plantago virginica L. Tachi-6ba-ko, Tsubomi-oba- 

 Ko. Annual or biennial with long soft whitish pubescence; 

 leaves narrowly obovate to broadly oblanceolate, 4-5 cm. long, 

 1.5-3 cm. wide, few-nerved, gray-green, gradually narrowed 

 to a rather long petiole; scapes 10-30 cm. long, rather slender, 

 striate; spikes 10-20 cm. long, densely many-flowered, pale 

 yellow to brownish white, the bracts narrowly ovate, shorter 

 than the calyx, pubescent on the prominently raised midrib; 

 calyx-segments oblong, about 2 mm. long, pubescent especially 

 on the midrib; corolla-lobes narrowly ovate, as long as the 

 calyx-segments, erect and covering the upper part of capsule, 

 l-nerved; capsules scarcely longer than the calyx-segments, 

 broadly ovoid; seeds 2, pale red-brown, about 1.8 mm. long, 



with a groove on the ventral face. May-June. Recendy 



naturalized in our area; introduced from N. America. 



Fam. 186. RUBIACEAE Akane Ka Madder Family 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees; leaves opposite or rarely verticillate, entire or toothed, simple; stipules free or connate, sometimes leaf- 

 like, interpetiolar or intrapetiolar; flowers usually bisexual, actinomorphic, rarely slightly zygomorphic, solitary or variously ar- 



