Ste 
Th BRETISH HBR Bai 
lightly finuated, often waved, and otherwife ir- 
regular. 
There are alfo other varieties of this plant, 
which have been deferibed' and figured as parti- 
cular fpecies. What is called rofe-plantain, is this 
fpecies with clufters of fmall leaves growing on 
the ftalk in form of a rofe, and is owing to the 
punéture of an infect, which perverts the courfe 
of the juice. The feveral other varieties of it, and 
of the other fpecies, as the defom plantain, and 
the reft, are only varieties, rifing from the fame 
accident. : 
2. Rough, broad-leaved Plantain. 
Plantago latifolia birfuta. 
The root is compofed of numerous, large fibres, 
The leaves rife in athick tuft; and are broad, 
‘farge, and of a whitith colour: they are of an 
» oval fhape, broadeft near the bafe, growing 
gradually fmaller to the end; and their ribs run 
Jengthwife, and are very confpicuous. 3 
The ftalks rife among the leaves in confider- 
able number : they are afoot high, of a whitith 
colour, hairy, and not very firm. 
The flowers are fmall and whitifh, and they 
ftand at the tops of the ftalks in fhort and thick 
{pikes, not in long, flender ones, as im the for- 
mer kind. ; 
It is common in paftures, and flowers in May. 
C. Bauhine calls it Plantago latifolia incana. 
Others, Plantago major incana, We, Hoary 
plantain, or Lambs tongue. 
3. Narrow-leaved. Plantain, 
Plantago anguftifolia vulgaris. 
The root is thick, fhort, divided into feveral 
parts, and furnifhed with many fibres. 
The leaves are numerous, and.have no foot- 
ftalks: they are long, narrow, and of a deep 
green, broadeft toward the middle, and fharp at 
the point. 
Their ribs run lengthwife, as in the others, and 
are very large and confpicuous. 
The ftalks are numerous, tough, upright, na- 
ked, ftriated, and ten inches high. 3 
The flowers are fmall, and ftand at the top of 
each ftalk in a. fhort, thick fpike. 
The feed-veffels are. {mall and oval,: and the 
feeds very minute and brown. 
It is common every where by way-fides, and 
» flowers all fummer. 
2 
C. Bauhine calls it Plantago major anguftifolia, 
Others, Plantago quinquenervia, We, Ribwort 
plantain. 
It varies extremely in fize, according, to the 
degree of nourifhment it receives; and hence the 
common writers have defcribed a larger and 
fmaller kind ; but this is only variation from ac- 
cident, no diftinétion of fpecies, : 
This is alfo liable to the fame accidental varia- 
tions as the broad-leaved kind, from the difturbed 
current of the juice; and by this its top will be 
covered with leaves, or its fpike varioufly al- 
tered. 
Thefe are no more than varieties perfectly ac- 
cidental 5 but as they are fingular in their kind, 
they are reprefented in the annexed plate. 
N° XVI. 
aie d 
4 Little, annual, broad-leaved Plantain. 
Plantago latifolia annua parva. 
The root confifts of a few fibres. 
The leaves are numerous, and f{pread upon thé 
Stound : they are broad and fhort ; they approach 
to an oval figure, and have very high veins: 
they are finuated at the edge, but lightly and irs 
regularly, and terminate ina fharp point. 
The ftalks are numerous, round, fitm, and 
about three inches hight they have no leaves on 
them, and are of a pale green. 
The flowers ftand in long and flender fpikes at 
the top of each ftalk. 
The feed-veffels are large, ahd the feeds very 
{mal}. 
It is not uncommon in damp places on heaths 
where it is generally overlooked, being confi: - 
dered only as a’ ftarved plant of the common 
kind, or as an accidental variety but it is truly 
difting. 
C. Bauhine calls it Plantago latifolia glabra mi: 
wor; and moft others defcribe it under the namé 
of Plantago minor but they confound with this, 
which is entirely diftinét, thé accidental variety 
of the common plantain, when only fmaller from 
want of nourifhment. 
Difference in fize alone is no mark of a difting 
fpecies ; but, joined with others, ir affifts, 
Authors deferibe alfo a kind of Loary plantain, 
under the name of the Jinaller. Plukenet calls 
it Plantago noftras latifolia minor incana trinervis 5 
but this is nothing more than an accidental variety 
of the common hoary plantain, all the parts being 
the fame, though finaller, and the plant rifing 
to its full ftation in better ground, 
$+ Sea-Plantain, 
Plantago marina. 
The foot is long, flender, undivided, and furs 
nifhed with a few fibres, 
The leaves are numerous, long, and narrow 3 
they rife in a thick tuft, and ftand tolerably up: 
right, only a few of the outermoft lying upon thé 
ground. They have no footftalks: they are broadeft 
at the bafe, narrower all the way to the point, 
and fometimes a little notched at the edges, but 
this very irregularly, 
The ftalks rife among thefe leaves in great 
number: they are four or five inches high, and’ 
have at their top a {pike of flowers very flender, 
and three or four inches in length ; fo that the 
whole height is eight or ten.inches : the ftalks are 
naked, and the flowers in the {pikes are very {mall, 
The feed-veffels alfo are fmall, and oval $ and 
the feeds very minute. 
It is common in our falt-marfhes, and elfe- 
where about the fea-coafts, and flowers in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it Plantago maritima major. 
Others, Plantago marina vulgaris, and Coronopus 
marinus. We, Sea-plantain, or Sea bucks-horn 
plantain. 
6. Bucks-hora Plantain, 
Plantago foliis incifis. 
The root is long, lender, undivided, and fur- 
nifhed with many fibres. 
Rr velhe 
