366 THE PLANTAIN FAMILY. 
LX. PLANTAGINEA, THE PLANTAIN FAMILY. 
Herbs, with radical, tufted or spreading leaves, and leafless 
flower-stalks, bearing a simple spike or a single terminal flower 
(the stem in some exotic species becoming elongated, branched, 
and leafy). Sepals 4. Corolla small, scarious, with an ovate 
or cylindrical tube, and 4 spreading lobes. Stamens 4, alter- 
nating with the lobes of the corolla, and usually very long. 
Ovary I-, 2-, or 4-celled, with one or more ovules in each cell, 
and terminating in a long, simple style. Capsule opening 
transversely or indehiscent. 
A small Order, widely spread over the globe, but most abundant in 
the temperate regions of the old world. 
Flowers hermaphrodite, in terminal heads or spikes_. . 1. PLantTago. 
Flowers unisexual, solitary, or two together, the males stalked, 
the females sessile amongst the leaves ,. . : P . 2 LITTORELLA. 
I. PLANTAGO. PLANTAIN. 
Flowers hermaphrodite, in heads or spikes on a leafless peduncle. Cap- 
sule 2- or 4-celled, with 2 or more seeds. 
The genus comprises the whole family, with the exception of the single 
species of Littorella. 
Leaves ovate or lanceolate, strongly ribbed. 
Leaves very broad, stalked. Spike long. Capsule several- 
seeded . 1. P. major. 
Leaves ovate, almost sessile. Spike cylindrical. Capsule am 
seeded . 2. P. media. 
Leaves lanceolate. Spike ovoid, or shortly cylindrical. Capsule 
2-seeded s , ; : 3. P. lanceolata. 
Leaves linear, entir e, or pinnatifid. 
Leaves entire, or very slightly toothed. Ovary 2-celled . - 4 P. maritima, 
Leaves deeply toothed or pinnatifid. Ovary 4-celled . ‘ . 5, P. Coronopus. 
1. P. major, Linn. (fig. 826). Greater Plantain —Rootstock short 
and thick. Leaves erect or spreading, broadly ovate, often 4 or 5 inches 
long and nearly as broad, entire or toothed, glabrous or downy, marked 
with 7 (rarely 9 or only 5) prominent, parallel ribs, converging at the base 
into a rather long footstalk. Peduncles usually longer than the leaves, 
bearing a long, slender spike of sessile flowers, smaller than in the two 
following species. Sepals green in the centre, scarious on the edges. 
Stamens longer than the corolla, but shorter than in the two following 
species. Capsule 2-celled, with from 4 to 8 seeds in each cell. 
In pastures, on roadsides, and in waste places, throughout Europe and 
Russian and central Asia, and has spread with cultivation over almost every 
part of the globe. Very abundant in Britain. Fl. summer and autumn. 
It varies much in size; the spike of flowers is seldom less than 2 inches, 
sometimes as much as e inches, long. 
2, P. media, Linn. (fig. 827). Hoary Plantain.—Rootstock thick, 
almost woody, and branched as in P. lanceolata. Leaves ovate, sessile, 
