PLANTAGINACEAE. 859 



green, scapes 5-10 cm. high. Leaves nearly linear, acuminate, entire, 3-ribbed, 

 3-6 mm. wide; spikes rather interrupted, cylindric, villous; bracts pubescent, 

 linear, rather spreading, two to five times as long as the flowers; sepals spatulate- 

 oblong, obtuse, scarious, with green midribs; corolla-lobes ovate, obtuse, reflexed; 

 pyxis equalling the calyx, oval, obtuse. 2.5 mm. long, circumscissile at the middle. 

 Assiniboia to Mont, and S. Dak., southward to Tex. 



11. Plantago aristata Michx. Large-bracted Plantain. (I. F. f. 3387.) 

 Annual, dark green, pubescent; scapes stout, erect, 7-30 cm. tall, exceeding the 

 leaves. Leaves linear, acuminate at the apex, entire, narrowed into slender peti- 

 oles, sometimes prominently 3-ribbed 1-5 mm. wide; spikes very dense, cylin- 

 dric. 3-12 cm. long, pubescent; bracts puberulent, linear, elongated, ascending, 

 the lower often 10 times as long as the flowers; pyxis 2-seeded; the seeds concave 

 on the face. On dry plains and prairies, 111. to La. and Tex., S. Dak., Br. Col. 

 and X. Mex. Also widely adventive as a weed in the eastern States from Me. to 

 Ga. May-Oct. 



12. Plantago Virginica L. Dwarf or White Dwarf Plantain. (I. F. f. 

 3388.) Annual or biennial, pubescent or villous; scapes erect, 2.5-45 cm. high, 

 much longer than the leaves. Leaves spatulate or obovate, thin, entire, or repand- 

 denticulate. narrowed into margined petioles, or almost sessile, 3-5-nerved; spikes 

 dense, or the lower flowers scattered, linear-cylindric, obtuse, 6-8 mm. thick, 

 flowers imperfectly dioecious; corolla-lobes of the fertile plants erect and connivent 

 on the top of the pyxis, those of the sterile spreading; stamens 4; pyxis oblong, 

 about as long as the calyx, 2-4-seeded. In dry soil, Conn, to Fla., 111., Mo., 

 Ariz, and Mex. March-July. 



Plantago occidentalis Decne. (P. Virginica var. lo7igifolia A. Gray), of the South- 

 west, with larger leaves, longer spikes, and larger flowers may be specifically distinct. 

 It is reported from Missouri. 



13. Plantago elongata Pursh. Slender Plantain. (I. F. f. 3389.) An- 

 nual, puberulent; scapes filiform, 5-18 cm. high, longer than the linear-filiform, 

 mostly entire, blunt, obscurely 1 -nerved leaves. Leaves about 1 mm. wide; spikes 

 slender, linear, rather loosely flowered, 1-8 cm. long, 3-4 mm. thick; flowers im- 

 perfectly dioecious, or polygamous; sepals oblong, obtuse, about as long as the 

 bract, scarious-margined; corolla-lobes of the more fertile plants becoming erect 

 over the pyxis; pyxis ovoid-oblong, obtuse, circumscissile at about the middle; 

 seeds nearly flat on both sides. In dry sandy soil, Conn, to N. Y., Va., La., 111., 

 S. Dak. and Tex. April-Aug. 



14. Plantago heterophylla Nutt. Many-seeded Plantain. (I. F. f. 3390.) 

 Annual, similar to the preceding, but glabrous or slightly puberulent; scapes 5-25 

 cm. long. Leaves narrowly linear or filiform, the larger about 4 mm. wide, entire 

 or often with distant small teeth or linear lobes; spikes loose, linear, 1-13 cm. long; 

 sepals oblong, obtuse, scarious-margined, mostly shorter than the bract; corolla- 

 lobes in the more fertile plants becoming erect over the pyxis; pyxis oblong, sub- 

 acute, circumscissile rather below the middle; seeds somewhat angled, scarcely 

 concave on the face. In moist soil, N. J. to Fla., Tenn., Tex. and Cal. April- 

 July. 



15. Plantago arenaria W. & K. Sand Plantain. (I. F. f. 3391.) Annual, 

 pubescent, somewhat viscid; stem commonly becoming much branched, leafy, 0.7-4 

 dm. high. Leaves opposite, orwhorled. narrowly linear, entire, sessile, 2-8 cm. long, 

 about 2 mm. wide; peduncles axillary, often umbellate at the ends of the branches, 

 slender; heads of flowers 1-2 cm. long, about 1 cm. thick; lower bracts acute or 

 acuminate; calyx-lobes unequal; corolla-lobes acute; capsule 2-seeded. Dayton, 

 Ohio. Adventive or fugitive from Europe. Summer. 



2. littore'lla l. 



A low perennial succulent herb, with linear entire basal leaves and monoecious 

 flowers, the staminate solitary or two together at the summits of slender scapes, the 

 pistillate sessile among the leaves. Sepals 4. Corolla of the stanr'nate flowers 

 with a somewhat urceolate tube, and a spreading 4-lobed limb. Corolla of the 

 pistillate flowers urn-shaped, 3-4 toothed. Staminate flowers with 4 long-exserted 

 stamens, their filaments filiform, the anthers ovate. Pistillate flowers with a single 



