610 
PLANTAGO, 
fummer-grafs; and for cattle and fiieep It is there in high 
efteem : it is not however well affedted by horfes ; and as 
an article of hay it is held to be detrimental to the crop ; 
retaining its fap an unufual length of time ; and, when 
fully dry, falls into a fmall compafs, or is broken into 
fragments, and left behind in the field. One advantage 
of this plant is, that its feeds may be ealily procured 
genuine. A fmall proportion of it may be eligible : it 
lias now flood the ted of twenty years’ eltablifhed practice, 
and feerns to be dill in good edimation, even among ob- 
fervant hufbandmen. 
Mr. Marfhall made a trial of it in Norfolk, as a fubfli- 
tute for clover, but gained nocreditfrom the experiment: 
the fadt is, horfes do not like it, and they are the principal 
confumers of the clover crop in that country. The qua¬ 
lities of this fpecies feem to be nearly the fame with thofe 
of P. major; and it is more ufed than that by the com¬ 
mon people, where it is more common. 
( 3 , y, It varies much in fize of the plant, breadth of 
the leaves, &c. The narrow leaves have only three ribs. 
The fpike is fometimes furrounded by large leaves, indead 
of theufual fmall bradtes : it fometimes becomes an abor¬ 
tive panicle : and it is found with two or three heads. 
9. Plantago Capenfis, or Cape plantain : leaves elliptic ; 
flowers of the fpike diftindt. Native of the Cape of Good 
Hope, where it was found byThunberg. 
10. Plantago lagoptis, orround-headed plantain : leaves 
lanceolate,fomewhat toothletted;fpike ovate,hirfute; fcape 
round. Leaves nerve!efs,pubefcent underneath, brown at 
the tip, and at the obfolete toothlets. According to Mcnf. 
Desfontaines, the leaves are five-nerved. Spike fhort,ovate, 
clofe, filky with very foft hoary villofe hairs ; when 
mature, cylindrical. Native of the fouth of France, 
Spain, Portugal, and Algiers. Cultivated in 1683, by 
Mr. James Sutherland. It flowers in June and July. 
11. Plantago lagopodioides : leaves lanceolate, nerved, 
ciliate, toothletted ; dem leafy ; peduncles axillary ; 
fpikes ovate; bradtes membranaceous. Stem Ample, 
villofe. Leaves like thofe of the preceding, acute, tooth¬ 
letted or quite entire, running down into the petiole, 
which is fheathing at the bafe. Allied to the P.amplex- 
icaulis of Cavanilles: but differs in having the leaves 
ciliate only, not hirfute all over. Perhaps it may be only 
a variety. Native of the fands about Tozzer. 
12. Plantago Lufitanica, or Portugal plantain : leaves 
broad-lanceolate, three-nerved, fomewhat toothed and 
hairy; fcape angular; fpike oblong, hirfute. Leaves up¬ 
right, wider than in P. media. Spike like that of P. la- 
gopus, but oblong, with fhort hirfute bradles ; corolla 
white, with a yellowifh flreak ; ftamens white. Style 
elongated, pubefcent, white. Native of Spain; and near 
La Calle, in Barbary. Introduced in 1781, by P. M. A. 
Brouffonet, M. D. It flow'ers in July and Augufl. 
13. Plantago Patagonica, or Patagonian plantain : leaves 
lanceolate-linear, fomewhat channelled, quite entire, 
woolly-haired; fcape round, hirfute; fpikes cylindrical, 
flamens not exceeding in length the tube of the corolla. 
This is very nearly allied to the next; but the leaves are 
narrower, more linear, and nervelefs. It is an annual 
plant; and native of Champion-river in Patagonia. 
14. Plantago albicans, or wmolly plantain : leaves lan¬ 
ceolate, oblique, villofe; fpike cylindrical, eredt; fcape 
round. Leaves narrow-lanceolate, decurrent into the 
petiole, three-nerved or five-nerved, quite entire or very 
feldom toothletted, villofe with white very crowded hairs, 
prefled clofe. Native of the fouth of France, Spain, and 
Barbary. Introduced in 1770, by Monf. Richard. It 
flowers from June to September, and is perennial. 
15. Plantago argentea, or filvery plantain : leaves nar¬ 
row-lanceolate, entire, filky, hoary ; fcape not ftriated ; 
fpike round; flowers very much crowded. Leaves filky 
with villofe hairs prefled clofe, very (harp, and attenuated 
at the bafe. Scape round, pubefcent, (lender, a little 
longer than the leaves. It is allied to P. albicans, but 
has a fhorter fpike, round, with the flowers very much 
crowded, not interrupted when the fruit is ripe. Native 
of the finds near Cafla in Barbary. 
16. Plantago hirfuta, or hairy plantain : leaves linear, 
ciliate; fpike cylindrical; fcape hirfute. Native of the 
Cape of Good Hope, where it was found by Thunberg. 
17. Plantago Alpina, or Alpine plantain : leaves linear, 
flat; fcape round, hirfute; fpike oblong, eredt. Root 
perennial, oblique, branched, creeping a little, often as 
it were bitten off. Leaves nerved, two, three, or four, 
lines in width, dark-coloured, fmooth, thick, and a little 
flefliy. Spike very fhort, round, compofed of from eigh¬ 
teen or twenty to thirty flowers, which are much larger 
and more detached than in P. lanceolata. According to 
Krocker, before the flowers open it hangs down ; and, 
after flowering, it becomes long and cylindrical. The 
bradtes are as long again as the calyx ; the corollas are 
blackifh ; according to Haller, they are whitifh. Native 
of the mountains of Swiflerland, Auftria, and Siberia. 
Introduced in 1774, by William Pitcairn, M. D. 
18. Plantago Bellardi : leaves linear-lanceolate, hairy, 
higher than the round hirfute fcape; fpike ovate, eredt. 
This is a fmall annual plant often fcarcely an inch, 
fometimes an inch and a half, in height. Several of the 
leaves are an inch and a half long, others are fmaller; all 
are linear-lanceolate and acute, attenuated at bottom, ob- 
fcurely three-nerved. Desfontaines has adopted La¬ 
marck’s name of P. Holoftea; and remarks that it differs 
from P. albicans, to which it is allied, in having the hairs 
fpreading, not prefled clofe, the fpike fhorter and den Ter, 
the bradies awl-fliaped, and the fegments of the corolla 
very fmall. He adds, that the leaves are quite entire, 
and three or five-nerved ; and the fcape round, not ftria- 
te-d, a little longer than the leaves. Native of Spain, 
Italy, and Tunis. 
19. Plantago Cretica, or Cretan plantain: leaves li¬ 
near; fcape round, very fhort, woolly; fpike, roundifli, 
nodding. This is an annual plant; when cultivated, 
having the leaves longer and not fo clofely woolly, and 
upon the whole putting on a very different appearance 
from the wild plant. Native of Crete. 
ao. Plantago barbata, or bearded-leaved plantain: leaves 
oblong-lanceolate, fomewhat toothed, bearded at the bafe; 
fpike globular, four-flowered. Native of Terra del Fuego, 
wdiere it was found by Forfter. 
21. Plantago ciliata, or fringed plantain : leaves hoary, 
narrow-lanceolate; fcape about the fame length with the 
leaves, hirfute; heads of flowers round, leaflefs; co¬ 
rollas ciliate. This puts up fevera! very fhort Items from 
the fame head. Leaves quite entire, filky with hairs 
prefled clofe, (harp, attenuated below. Native of the 
iandy defert near Cafla and Elhammah. Annual. 
22. Plantago maritima, or fea plantain: leaves linear, 
almoft quite entire, channelled, woolly at the bafe; fpike 
cylindrical; fcape round. Root perennial, woody, in- 
verfely conical at the crown. Stalk five or fix inches 
high. Spike from an inch to an inch and a half in 
length, bent at a right angle before flowering. Leaves 
convex on the lower, channelled on the upper, furface, 
generally entire, but fometimes with a few minute irregu¬ 
lar teeth. Bradtes keeled ; tube of the corolla woolly; 
anthers yellow. This is reprefented on the annexed 
Plate at fig. 1. and the parts are fhown feparately: a, the 
root; b, a leaf; c, the fpike ; d, the flowers. 
No plant varies more in fize than this : its leaves being 
fometimes fcarcely an inch, at other times more than a 
foot, in length. The height of the ftalk is more conflant, 
but the number of flowers in the fpike varies extremely. 
It loves a muddy foil, but is as various in its place of 
growth as in fize, being found, like Statice Armeria, on 
the highefl mountains as well as on the fea-fhore. Hence 
it has been taken for P. alpina, which is a very different 
plant, with fhort oval fpikes, and lanceolate flat leaves. 
Still lefs refemblance has it to P. Loeflingii 5 that having 
