Plantagineae 
Include* 3 genera and over 300 species, nenrly all of which 
belong to the typical genus Ptaitlatio, tin .,UUT genera, 
Huuyurria and LManUa, being both monotyplc. 
PlantagO (plan-tii'^.i, . [NL. (Touruefort, 
ITiiiD, < I., /ilnntai/o, plantain: see plantain 1 .] 
A genus of plants, type of the order Plantanineee. 
distinguished by the peltate seeds, two-celled 
ovary, and circumscissile capsule, it includes 
OTCT MO specie*, known u plantain or ribwort, anil found 
everywhere, from arctic to tropical regions. In wet or dry 
ground, but moat common In temperate climates. They 
are animal or perennial herba, almost stemlena, bearing 
roaettea of spreading leaves, which are characteristically 
broad, entire, five- to seven-nerved, with illlaU,-d-peliole 
iMse. The small flowers are usually crowded In a long 
spike, cross-fertilized by the earlier maturity of the pis- 
tils. Many species are dimorphous, or Include perfect 
seed-bearing plants of two kinds, one form having long 
stamens and short styles, the other the opposite. Most of 
4532 
/iiiriiili.ti'irii. or iN fruit. The plantain closely re- 
sembles the banana, and Is In fact often regarded as a va- 
riety of It. It Is distinguished to the eye l.y purple snots 
on the stem, and by Its longer fruit. The plantain-fruit 
is commonly eaten cooked before fully mature, while the 
banana is mostly eaten fresh when ripe. The pulp Is dried 
and pulverized to make meal. The fresh fruit [a compa- 
rable chemically with the potato, the meal with rice. 
The plantain, together with the banana, supplies the chief 
food of millions In the tropics. Though less nutritious 
than wheat or potatoes, it Is produced In vastly larger 
quantities from the same area, and with far less effort. 
~Min, times called Adam'i apple, from the fancy that this 
was the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden ; the specific 
name refers to the same fancy. See Mtua and banana. 
They would also bring great store of orange* and plan- 
tan, which is a fruit that groweth upon a tree, and is 
very like vnto a cucumber, but very pleasant in eating. 
Hakluytt Voyage*, II. ii. 129. 
Berries and chestnuts, plantain*, on whose cheeks 
The sun site smiling. 
Fletcher, Faithful Shepherdess, i. 1. 
Bastard plantain. See Heliconia, -2. Manila plan- 
tain, wild plantain, Mvta textilis, the Manila-hemp 
plant. See inanHa ana MUM. 
plantain-cutter (plan'tan-kut'er), n. Same as 
lilaiitain-eater. P. L. S'clater. 
A bird of 
, 
the American species are introduced weeds (for which see 
ntonlainl, trmp*, hen-plant, and way-bread, nnd, for /'. 
tenceolata,ribwort,ribgraM,}aclcitraw,*ndcocln). P. media, 
the hoary plantain, laiub's-tongue, or tiroweed of English 
pastures. Is a pest on account of Its stifling growing crops 
by Its broad Bat leaves, close-pressed to the ground ; and 
the common P. major is sometimes similarly Injurious In 
America. P. Cormwpui is a peculiar plant of the llritish 
sea-cliffs, called dar-of-the-carth from Its divided radiat- 
ing leaves, also herb-ivy, budc't-horn, and hartthorn-plan- 
tatn. Vor other species, see Jleaumrt, 2, and upayhuf-seed, 
See cut under plantain*. 
plantain 1 (plan'tan), n. [Formerly also ^Ian- 
tun. jilidntnin; < "ME. plantfyne, plaicnteyne, < 
OF. plantain, F. plantain = Pr. ptantaae = Cat. pi an talt (plaii'tal), a. ' [Cf . OF. plantdl, a plant, 
plantatge = 8p. llanten (also, after P., plan- 8et> sc j on .< ML'.' plantalis,< l^.plaiita, a plant: 
taina) = Pg. tanchagem = It. piuntaggine, < L. 8ee p i an ti.] Of or belonging to plants. 
plaiitago (plantar/in-), plantain, so called from 
its broad spreading leaf; from the same source 
as planta, a spreading sucker, a plant, and 
planta, the Bole of the foot : see plant 1 , j>lanft.~] 
A plant of the genus Plan toy o, especially P. 
major, the common or greater plantain. This Is 
a familiar dooryard weed, with large spreading leaves close 
plantain-eater (plan'tan-e'ter), n. 
the family Muxophagidse ; a plantain-cutter or 
touraoou. See touracoit. 
plantain-lily (plan'tan-lil'i), n. See Funkia. 
plantain-tree ( plau'tan-tre), w. See plantain 2 . 
see plant!.] Of or belonging to plants. 
There 's but little similitude betwixt a terreous humid- 
ity and plantal germinations. 
OlaneOle, Seep. Sci. (Latham.) 
The same inequality of temper made him surmise that 
the most degenerate souls did at last sleep in the bodies 
of trees, and grew up merely Into plantal life. 
Dr. U. " 
Flowering Plant of Plantain (Plantafo ma/or). 
a, the flower ; l>, the fruit (pyxis). 
to the ground, and slender spikes ; it Is a native of Europe 
and temperate Asia, but Is now found nearly everywhere. 
(See hen-plant and way-bread.) The English plantain (so 
nalUil In the United States) Is /'. lanceolata, the ribwort, 
rib-gnus, or ripple-grass, of the same nativity as the 
former. It has narrow leaves with prominent ribs, and 
Blender staJks a foot or two high, with short thick spikes. 
(See cocin and JoeMratr.) The sea-plantain or seaside 
plantain,/*, maritiina, with linear leaves, occurson muddy 
shores in both hemispheres. The leaf Is bound upon In- 
named surfaces with a soothing effect. See also cut under 
amphitropou*. 
These poor slight sores 
Need not a plantain. 
Fletcher (and another}. Two Noble Kinsmen, I. 2. 
Knot-grass, plantain all the social weeds. 
Man's mute companions, following where he leads. 
0. W. Ilolmn, Poems, The Island Ruin. 
Indian plantain, any plant of the genus Cacalia. The 
moat common species Is C. atriplicifolia, a pale-colored 
plant from 3 to 8 feet high, 
with palnmtely veined an- 
KUl:it>- tnliril and -toothed 
|hucouale*v<- Rattle- 
snake- plantain. 
Qaadyera. Robtn'n- 
plantaln, / ' 
difnliut, a sp.-c |r< with few 
rather broad heads and 
bluish rays, flowering 
early, common In the east- 
.in I nlted SUtca. 
plantain- (plan'tan), 
n. [Formerly also 
lilriiiiini : < ( >('. pin.--- 
fi///i, plane-tree, = Sp. 
/illinium!, also pla- 
IHHII, plantain, plane- 
tree: sec ptoM*>.1 A 
tropical plant, Muxa 
M,,,., ,.,<*,,<,}. 
More, Immortal, of Soul, ill. 1. 
plantant, An obsolete form olplantainl and 
pluntaiift. 
plant-animal (plaut'an*i-mal), H. One of the 
zoophytes or Phytozoa, as a sea-anemone or 
coral. 
plantar (plan'tar), a. [< L. plantaris, of or be- 
longing to the sole of the foot, < planta, the 
sole of the foot: see plan ft.] Of or pertaining 
to the planta, or sole of the foot : as, a plantar 
muscle, tendon, or liga- 
ment; the plantar as- 
pect of the foot or leg: 
correlated with palmar : 
often in composition: 
as, laminiplantar, scutel- 
liplantar. Plantararch, 
the arch formed by the exter- 
nal plantar artery. Plan- 
tar arteries, the two termi- 
nal branches of the posterior 
tibial artery In the sole of the 
foot The external, the larg* 
er, passes outward and for- 
ward to the base of the lift h 
metatarsal, where It tunisol>- 
llqnely Inward to communi* 
cate at the base of the first 
metatarsal with the dorsal 
artery, forming the plantar 
arch. The internal, the 
smaller, runs along the inner 
side to the base of the great 
toe. Plantar fascia. See 
fascia. Plantar interos- 
sei. See interosttnig. Plan- 
tar ligament, any ligament 
of the sole of tne foot, espe- 
cially the long calcaneocuhold ligament Plantar mus- 
cle, the plantaris. Plantar nerves, two branches of the 
posterior tibial, distributed to many of the small muscles 
and the integument of the sole of the foot, the external 
terminating in the skin of the little toe and of the Inner 
side of the fourth, the internal in the contiguous sides of 
the others. - Plantar tubercle, the tubercle on the first 
metatarsal bone, for attachment of the tendon of the pcro- 
neus longus. pift.nt.nr veins, the vena? comltes of the 
plantar arteries. 
plantaris (plan-ta'ris), .; pi. plantares (-rez). 
[NL.. sc. musculus, muscle: see plantar.] A 
small fusiform muscle with a very long tendon 
ending variably in or near the tendo Achillis. 
It arises from the femur near the outer head of the gas- 
trocnemlus. The muscle Is sometimes absent, sonx tmi. 
double. In man It is very small or vestigial in comparison 
with its development in some other animals. 
plantation (plvn4*'8hon), . [< F. plantation 
= Pr. plantacio = 8p. plantation = Pg. planta- 
fjHo = It. piantazione, pumtaaione, < \,. plniiin- 
tin(n-), a planting, < plantare, pp.pltnilittii.i. 
plant, transplant: seep/Vmfl.] If. The act of 
planting seeds or plants. 
In bower and field he sought, where any tuft 
of grove or garden plot more pleasant lay, 
"siUton, If. L., Ix. 4111. 
In April! they begin to plant, but tin ir chiefe planta- 
tion is In slay, and so they continue till the midst of lime. 
' In <',,!. John Smith'i Works, I. 120. 
Plantar Arch. 
planter 
2. Introduction; establishment. 
Those Instruments which It pleated God to use for the 
plantation of the faith. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, L 68. 
The first plantation of Christianity in this Island. 
Kilton BaalOre. 
3. A planting with people or settlers ; coloni- 
zation. 
The first publlck attempt against Heaven at Babel after 
the plantation of the world again. 
Stilling fleet, Sermons, I. viL 
Elizabeth thought the time had come for the coloniza- 
tion or plantation of I Inter. 
W. S. Gregg, Irish Hist for Eng. Readers, p. 37. 
4. A planted place, (o) A small wood; a grove; a 
piece of ground planted with trees or shrubs for the pur- 
pose of producing timber or coppice-wood. 
I went to see the New Spring Garden at Lambeth, a 
pretty contriv'd plantation. Evelyn, Diary, July 2, 1061. 
(6) A farm, estate, or tract of land, especially in a tropical 
or semi-tropical country, such as the southern parts of the 
United States, South America, the West Indies, Africa, 
India, Ceylon, etc., in which cotton, sugar-cane, tobacco, 
coffee, etc., are cultivated, usually by negroes, peons, or 
coolies: as, a sugar -plantation; also used attributively: 
as, plantation life ; plantation songs. 
From the Euphrates we ascended the hills through 
plantations of pistachio nuts. 
Pococlce, Description of the East, II. I. 168. 
The house was of the ordinary plantation type large, 
white, with double piazzas, standing high from the ground ; 
and in the yard was a collection of negro-cabins and stables. 
The Century, XXXV. 190. 
(ct) An original settlement In a new country ; a colony : 
as, Rhode Maud and Providence plantation!. 
We kept a day of thanksgiving In all the planlatiotu. 
Winthrop, Hist. .New England, I. 86. 
5. In Maine and New Hampshire, an unorgan- 
ized and thinly settled division of a county. 
6. An oyster-bed in which the oysters have 
been artificially planted ; a cultivated area of 
oyster-bottom: a legal term in the State of Dela- 
ware Council of Plantations, in Kng. IM,, a com- 
mittee of the Privy Council, established in the reign of 
Charles II., for supervision of the colonies (or foreign 
plantations) : it was soon united with the Board of Trade. 
In the eighteenth century colonial affairs passed to a sep- 
arate administration. 
plantation-mill (plan-ta 'shon-mil), ti. Any one 
of variously constructed mills adapted for use 
on a plantation or farm for grinding oats, lin- 
seed, etc., moved by hand or other power. 
plant-bug (plant'bug), n. One of many differ- 
ent heteropterous insects which suck the 
juices of plants. They belong 
chiefly to the family Capriate, as, for 
example, the tarnished plant-bug, 
also called Lyiria pratennt, Captus 
' liliitt'titiix, and Phytocoru lineola- 
ri, which does great damage to 
many different orchard-trees, small 
fruits, and vegetables in thel'nited 
States. The dotted plant-bug, a 
pentatomld, Ewchistus cariolariim 
or punctipeg, Is also a general plant- 
feeder, though exceptionally car- 
nivorous. See Kymtu and Phy- 
tocorin. 
plant-cane (plant'kan), w. The original plants 
of the sugar-cane, produced from germs placed 
in the ground ; or canes of the first growth, in 
distinction from the ratoons, or sprouts from 
the roots of canes which have been cut. 
[West Indies.] 
plant-cutter (plant'kut'er), n. 1. A bird of 
the family Phytotomide?. 2. pi. In the early 
history of Virginia, rioters who went about 
destroying tobacco-plants. 
plant-disease (plant'di-zez'), n. See disease. 
plant-eating (plant'e'ting), a. Eating or feed- 
ing upon plants; phytophagous; specifically, 
in entom., belonging to the Phytupliniin. 
planted (plan'ted),j>. a. 1. In joinery, wrought 
on a separate piece of stuff, 
and afterward fixed in its 
place: said of a projecting 
member: as, a planted mold- 
ing. 2. Introduced or nat- 
uralized; not indigenous. 
There are plenty of foxes, some native, some planted, 
and all wild. The Century, XXXII. 345. 
planter (plan'ter), . [= D. planter = MIKi. 
l,lilnn:er, phlenzer, G. pjlan:er = Sw. pl/inh- 
rtirc = Dan . //<//////; as plinth -4- -/'/'I.] 1. One 
wlio plants, sets in the ground or in position, 
introduces, establishes, nrsets up: us, 11 plmili i 
of maize or of vines; the first p&mtortOxChri*- 
tianity: a planter of colonies. 
These Planter* of the ancient Literature in England 
hoped well of their Mother Tongue. 
AKlllln Till' Srll.-i 
Your lordship hath been a great plant, r <>f h m.ing. 
fincun, Advanri-nii pit ( I.. ;iiiimi.'. I'M f. |>. >ii 
Dolted-leK c( l Flant-tnig. 
I EuKhistHS punttipts. ) 
( Line shows natural size.) 
xi- 
Panel with I'l.ititr-i 
Molding. 
