11 



PLANTAGINACEiE. 



Plantago. 



Group 7. Ovary free, one-celled, with a single ovule ; or 2-celled, with several 

 ovules attached to a thick central placenta. Stamens as many as the lobes of 

 the regular corolla, or the nearly distinct petals. 



Order LXIT. PLANTAGINACEiE. Juss. The Plantain Tribe. 



Calyx 4-cleft, persistent. Corolla tubular or urn-shaped, membranaceous and 

 persistent ; the limb 4-parted. Stamens 4, inserted into the tube of the corolla, 

 and alternate with its segments ; the filaments usually long and flaccid : anthers 

 versatile. Ovary 2- or rarely 4-celled : style single. Fruit a membranaceous 

 capsule, opening transversely, with the cells 1- or several-seeded, or a bony 

 1-seeded nucule. Seeds peltate. — Herbs or rarely suffruticose plants, with 

 short stems, and the leaves mostly radical and ribbed. Peduncles radical. 

 Flowers in spikes, small, destitute of beauty. 



1. PLANTAGO. Linn. ; Endl. gen. 2170. plantain. 



[A name of uncertain origin.") 



Flowers complete. Calyx deeply 4-parted (rarely 3-parted). Corolla tubular ; the limb 

 reflexed. Stamens mostly very long. Capsule 2 - 4-celled, membranaceous, opening 

 transversely. Testa of the seed mucilaginous. Embryo cylindrical, in the axis of dense 

 fleshy albumen. — Herbaceous plants, with the leaves mostly l-adical, and the flowers in 

 dense spikes. 



. _/ 



* Cells of the capsule many-seeded. 



1. Plantago major, Linn. Broad /saved or Common Plantain. 



Leaves ovate or oval, smoothish, somewhat toothed, usually shorter than the petioles ; scape 

 terete ; spike cylindrical or a little tapering, slender; flowers imbricated. — Linn. sp. I. p. 42; 

 Engl. hot. t. 1558 ; Pursh, fl 1. p. 98 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 51 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 183 ; Beck, 

 hot. p. 293 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 110. 



Perennial. Leaves 4-6 inches or more in length and 3-4 broad, about 5-nerved, some- 

 times pubescent, with coarse obscure teeth. Scapes several, 10 - IS inches long. Spikes 

 3-10 inches long. Bracts shorter than the calyx. Segments of the calyx ovate, acute, 

 carinate. Corolla urn-shaped, whitish ; the segments acute, reflexed. Stamens twice as long 

 as the corolla. Capsule ovoid-oblong, rather acute. 



Fields, road-sides, etc. ; common. Introduced from Europe. May - August. The leaves 

 are often used for dressing blisters. 



