P1,A]^TA01NAC,EAB (PLANTAIN FAMILY) 4(35 



segments equal, or 2 of them lairger. Corolla. salverform; the, tube cyUndric, 

 or constricted at the throat; the limb t4-l.obed or 4-parted, spreading jn flower, 

 in fruit, spreading, erect) or reflexed: Stamens 4 or 2. Ovary 2f-eelled or, 

 falsely 3-4-celled. Fruit a membranaceous capsjule., Seed-cp3,t develpping 

 copious mucilagfe when .wetted., .i ,,i , ' ■ ,.'_,]. r ' 



Stamens 4; flowers perfect; corolla not closing over, the capsule. ' '-''^ 



Leaves S-S-nej'ved, glabrous or puliiescent but not sUky-lanate; spikes 

 not woolly. ■ ' - ••-', ,,, i , 



Cjapsiule circumsoissile near the ^liddleL , . i 1 1 



Leaves broad, lubstly oval , . . , .^ . . . 1. P. major. 



Leaves lanceolate . . . . '.'.'''. . .2. P.' la'nCeolata. 



Capsule circiimscissile near the base. 

 :,,^L Crown not woollv. ,,1 



In saline soil; leaves oval, 5-9-nerved I capsule 5^?0-seeded . 3. P. nitrophila 

 , Subalpine; leaves 3-7-nerved: capsule usually 4^^e^ded . . 4. P. Tweedyi. ' 

 '■ Crown with )bTO#n 'or red wool Involving the basti -of the petioles 5. P. eiiiotCoda. 

 Leaves UneaE,v silky-laUatje; spik^,:f woolly . . . , . . 6. P. ^urshii^ I 

 Stamens ,2; flowers ^i^bdioeciouS or polygamo-dioecious; corolla-lobes 



closing over the bali:istile' . ''''," .' . ' -', .' . . .7. P. elongata. 



1. Plantago major L. Sp. Pt. 113. 1753. Smodth or sometimes pubescent 

 or even roughish:' leaves strongly ribbed, broadj ovate, oblong,; oval, or gub-, 

 cord^te> often toothed,^ abruptly narrowed into a channeled; petiole: spike 

 'dense; obtuse: sepals round-ovate/ or obovate: corolla glabrous:, style exsertedi 

 from the unopened corqlla.: .staniens exserted when the cofoUa has. opened:- 

 pod ovoid, circumscissile near the middle, 8-18-seeded; seeds;: angled, reticu- 

 lated. — Cosmopohtan; waste places about towns. 



2. Plantago lanceolata L. 1. c. More or less pubescent; rootstock short, 

 with tufts of, brown haif, at the base pf?the leaifes, ;perennialj or biennial : leaves 

 narrowly laiiiceolate, mosfly ' ereci, entire, acvif e or acuminate, ' gradually 

 narrowed into petioleSj,;3-5-ribbed; scapes slender, chaijiieled, 2-5, din|, high: 

 spikes very dense, at first short and ovoid, becoming cylindric, blunt, 2-^ cm. 

 long in fruit; flowers perfect: sepals ovate, with a harrow green iJiidrib and 

 broad, scariousmai-gins, the 2 lower ones commonly united: corolla glabrous, 

 the tube very* short: stamens exserteds capsule, oblong, veryiobtuse, 2-seeded, 

 slightly longer than the calyx, {QJrpmnscissile at about the middle: seeds deeply 

 excavated on the face. — Infrequent in our range; widely dispersed from 

 Europe'.-' , 's"''''^' i„ :. , , 



3. Fla'ntago nitrophila A. Nels. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 29: 405. 1902. 

 Rootstock short, with a great njunbe;r,of i^ick, .fibrous roots: leaves 1 dm. or 

 more in length, mostly ovalj sometimes' faearly orbicular, obtuse or obtusish, 

 entire or crenately dentate, the 5-7 neryes ex,tending in;to the pjibescent 

 petiole which genei^ally equals OTj exceeds the thick blade: scape prbper about 

 equaling the leaves, whitish with' soft crinkly hairs: spike equaling the scape, 

 simple or with 2 .or more short spikes from the lowest foliar bracts, mod- 

 erately thick, crowded; bracts .proper ovate^ subacute, scariovrs-margiried, 

 keeled and closely appressed, shorter than the Inature fruit : sepals nearly' 

 orbicular, overlapping each othery scarious 'with a grfeen midrib) but, httle 

 more than half as long as the bracts: (jap'suleovateii 3^ mm. long, ciroiim- 

 scissile near the base:iseeds 7-10 in each cell, oblong-elliptic, obscurely wingr- 

 angled and delicately reticulated, dark brown. (P. asiatica as to our range, 

 and probably also P. Riigellii.) — Wet alkaline banks; Colorado and Wyoming.^ 



4. Plantago Tweedyi Gray, ,Syn. Fl. 2': 390. 1886. Flant il-2 dm. high 

 from a slender root or rootstock, destitute of wool at the crown :i leaves mem-^ 

 branaceous, lanceolate-spatulate, entire or obsoletely denticulate, obscurely 

 3-5-nerved, 3-7 cm, loJign attenuate into a shorter margined petiole: spike 

 slender but densely flowesred, 2-5 cm. long: "bracts and sepals short, about 

 2 mm. long, pale with greenish midrib, Uttle over half the length of the oblbng 

 capsule. — Subalpine; from Colorado to Idaho and Montana. 



5. PlantagoeriopodaTorr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 2: 237. 1827. Usually a mass 

 of yellowish-brown or red wool at the crown: leaves oblanceolate to oval- 

 obovatey fleshy-coriaceous, 3-7-nervedi,_l/-^1.5 dm. long; i with a short or stout 

 petiole: spike cylindrical, dense or sometimes sparsely flowered: sepals roundish- 



