611 
PLANTAGO. 
flat leaves, and very fliort roundifli pale fpikes, much 
like thofe of P. plyliium. 
Our P. maritima may be known by its very flefliy and 
fmooth leaves, channelled above and convex below, with 
a tuft of wool at their bafe, and the fpike, however fliort, 
always cylindrical. It is common on the fea-coaft and in 
fait rnarflies, in many parts of Europe, Barbary, and 
North America, flowering rather late in the fummer. It 
alio grows in the Allures of rocks on mountains remote 
from t’nefea. Mr. Robfon found it near Barnard Caltie, 
thirty-live miles from the fea ; and Mr. Lightfoot on the 
fummits of the higheft mountains in Scotland. 
Dr. Withering notices two varieties. One narrow¬ 
leaved, with filiform leaves, a much fmaller plant than the 
common fort, and flowering earlier. He found it in the 
Ifle of Wight, going out of flower the beginning of June. 
Leaves about two inches long; ftalk cylindrical, flender, 
not fcored, four inches high ; fpike an inch long, cylin¬ 
drical, notclofely crowded with florets. The other flat¬ 
leaved, with flat ribbed leaves very fparingly toothed. 
Leaves five inches long, flat, five-ribbed ; l'pike tw'O 
inches long. Obferved near the Briftol Channel by Mr. 
Swayne, and at Yarmouth by Mr. Woodward. 
23. Plantago fubulata, or awl-leaved plantain : leaves 
awl-lhaped, three-fided, ftriated, rugged3 fcape round. 
Leaves clultered, filiform, acute, flat above, convex un¬ 
derneath, rugged about the edge with fcarcely-confpicu- 
ous prickles; woolly at the root. Scape round, longer 
than the leaves, by no means fmooth. Spike ovate-ob¬ 
long, not villofe, flender, clofe. Native of the South of 
Europe, efpecially on the fandy fhores of the Mediterra¬ 
nean; growing in thick tufts; alfo about Tlemfen, in 
Barbary. Introduced in 1773 by John earl of Bute. 
24. Plantago gentianoides, or gentian-leaved plantain: 
very fmooth; leaves ovate, three-ribbed, fomewhat waved, 
ftalk round ; bradtes ovate, naked, fhorter than the calyx. 
Gathered by Dr. Sibthorp on Mount Olympus, with the 
preceding. Root perennial, thick. Leaves very like 
Gentiana acaulis. Stalks three or four inches high, quite 
fmooth and naked. Spike cylindrical, flender, fcarcely an 
inch long, perfectly fmooth in every part. Flora Grcvca, 
N° 355 - 
25. Plantago varia, or variable New-Holland plantain: 
hairy; leaves lanceolate, three-ribbed, toothed; woolly, 
as well as the italics, at the bottom; fpike many-flow¬ 
ered. Native of various parts of New Holland without 
the tropic. It vras fent from Port Jackfon, in 1793, by 
Dr. White. The leaves are three or four inches long, 
from half an inch to an inch wide, tapering towards the 
bafe, or footftalk, which lull is variable in length; both 
tides are clothed with denfe fhort pubefcence, and marked 
with three (occafionally five) longitudinal ribs; margin 
often befet with diftant, very large and dilated, almoft 
ovate, teeth ; fometiines with obfolete ones, or none at 
all. Flower-ftalks taller than the leaves, at leaft when 
full-grown ; hairy, round, woolly at the bafe. Spike cylin¬ 
drical, hairy, of rather numerous, but fometiines diftant, 
flowers. In many points akin to albicans, and to ferra- 
ria and its allies; but very diftin< 51 , as a fpecies, from all 
of them. This and the three following are from Brown’s 
Prodr. Nov. Holl. 
26. Plantago debilis, or weak New-Holland plantain : 
leaves lanceolate, toothed or entire, three-ribbed, flaccid ; 
beardlefs, as well as the thread-fhaped flower-ftalk, at the 
bafe; lower flowers of the fpike fcattered. Found by 
Mr. Brown at Port Jackfon, New South Wales. Nearly 
akin to the foregoing. 
27. Plantago hifpida, or hifpid New-Holland plantain : 
hairy and hoary ; leaves linear-lanceolate, toothed'; beard¬ 
lefs, as well as the flower-ftalk, at their bafe : fpike of 
many imbricated flowers. Native of the fouth coaft of 
New Holland. 
28. Plantago carnofa, or flefliy New-Holland plantain : 
very fmooth; leaves lanceolate, deeply toothed, fomewhat 
flefliy; naked, as well as the flower-ftalk, at their bafe; 
flowers from one to three. Native of the ifland of Van 
Diemen. Brown, N° 42, 3, 4. 
29. Plantago gracilis, or flender-fpiked plantain: 
leaves lanceolate, toothletted, bluntifli; fcape round, not 
ftriated ; fpike clofe, very long. Leaves fmooth, with a 
rufefcent down at the bafe. Spike (lender, not interrupted. 
Native of Barbary near La Calle. 
30. Plantago recurvata, or recurved-leaved plantain: 
leaves linear, channelled, recurved, naked. Leaves radi¬ 
cal, acute, fomewhat pubefcent- underneath, fcarcely 
toothletted. Scapes filiform, round, not ftriated, eredt, 
lhorter than the leaves. It is allied to P. fubulata; and 
perhaps may be the fame cultivated in a garden. It is an 
annual plant, native of the fouth of Europe and the Levant. 
31. Plantago macrorhiza, or thick-rooted plantain : 
leaves fpatulate, gafh-toothed ; teeth imbricate, mucro- 
nate; fcape round, hairy. Leaves radical, fpreading 
like a rofe, narrowing very much towards the bafe, thick, 
hirfute on both fides, mucronate; teeth ovate, three or 
five on each fide. Scape afcending, a hand or more in 
height, covered clofely with hairs prefled to it. Spike 
cylindrical hirfute, two inches and more in length. Des- 
fontaines defcribes it, under the name of P. crithmoides, 
as a low tufted plant, hirfute, branched, decumbent at 
the bafe. Root thick, twilled, fomewhat woody. Leaves 
crowded, running down into the petiole, hirfute, deeply 
toothed; teeth acute, fomewhat remote. Native of Si¬ 
cily and Barbary. Found by Poiret in the plains of Ma- 
zoule,by Vahl at way-fides about Tunis, by Desfontaines 
in the fiflures of rocks on the coaft. 
32. Plantago ferraria, or law-leaved plantain: leaves 
lanceolate, five-nerved, tooth-ferrate; fcape round. Des¬ 
fontaines defcribes the leaves as almoft like thofe of P. 
lanceolata, villofe, ferrated with awl-fliaped longifli re¬ 
mote fpreading teeth. Scape longer than the leaves, 
villofe with hairs prefled clofe. Spike clofe, flender. Na¬ 
tive of Silefia, Apulia, and Barbary; Krocker fays he 
found it on the banks of the Oder and other rivers, in a 
clayey foil ; Desfontaines in Algiers. Poiret informs us 
that this handfome fpecies grows, with fome varieties, in 
fhady moift places. 
33. Plantago coronopus, or buck’s-horn plantain: 
leaves linear, toothed; fcape round. Root annual. 
Leaves pinnatifid (fometimes bipinnatifid) hairy, with 
very unequal fegments, lying on the ground in form of a 
ftar, whence the fanciful names of herba Jlella, and ftar of 
the earth. Scapes afcending, four inches high. Spike 
cylindrical, in fandy ground few-flowered, and fo fliort as 
to be almoft headed. Segments of the calyx lapping over 
each other, deeply divided, and fringed at the outer edge. 
Antherae terminated by a (mail lanceolate tranfparent 
membrane; which is conftant, however the plant may 
vary in the fize and clefts of the leaves, height of the 
ftalk, or length of the fpike. Native of mod parts of 
Europe, Barbary, &c. in fandy and gravelly foils, and on 
the fea-coaft; flowering all the fummer. It is common 
in the fields-of Denmark, and by road-iides; it is repre- 
fented (from the Flora Danica) at fig. 
Miller fays, that there are two varieties growing in 
Britain; the common, which is plentiful on heaths; and 
the narrow-leaved, which is found upon many of the 
Welfh mountains. The firft of thefe was formerly culti¬ 
vated as a falad-herb in gardens, but has been long ba- 
niflied for its rank difagreeable flavour. 
Other varieties are mentioned by different authors ; 
but the fpecies of this genus are much lubjedl to varia¬ 
tion. Linnaeus remarks, that the tenth, twelfth, four¬ 
teenth, nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-fecond, are 
fo nearly allied, that we may conjecture their difference 
to be owing to change of place, or the mixture of pollen. 
P. Loeflingii, which has been confounded both with this 
fpecies and P. maritima, is very diftindt from both, as 
may appear from the defcription that follow's. 
34. Plantago 
