232 TETRANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. Plantago. 
15 . 9 —Pet. 4. 6— J. B. iii. 505. 1 —Trag\ 225. 2—Ger. 341. 1 —Matth. 
481— Anders. 
Stalk about a foot high. Root appearing as if bitten off, (rather woody. E.) 
Spike one inch long, or not so much. Leaves strap-spear-shaped, erect, 
ribs five to sevenoften obscurely dentate towards the base. Anthers 
white. The stalks continue to grow after the flowering is over, and 
sometimes shoot out to the length of two feet or more. (Bracteas black¬ 
ish, one to each flower, which gives the whole spike a black aspect, 
especially when not in flower. Grev. The spikes affect similar transfor¬ 
mations to those of P. major ; the bracteas being occasionally, by luxu¬ 
riance, converted into leaves ; and the heads in other instances assuming 
a globular form. E.) 
Ribwort Plantain Rib Grass. (Irish: Cruah Phadruig; Sian Luss. 
Welsh: Llyriad Llwynhidydd; Llwyn y neidr; Pennau r g wyr : 
Gaelic : Slan-lus. E.) Meadows and pastures, very common. P. June.'* 
Var. 2. Leaves narrow, three-ribbed. St. 
Ger. Prov. 12— Ger. 339. 4—-*/. B. iii. 505. 2— Park. 496. 3— Pet. 4. 7. 
Mountainous and barren places. 
Var. 3. Foliosa. Summit of the stalk surrounded' with leaves longer than 
the spike. Woodw. 
Ger. 341. 2— J. B. iii. 506. 1—17. Ox. viii. 15. 10. 
Near Leeds. Dr. Stokes—Ripton, Huntingdonshire. Mr. Woodward. 
Var. 4. Spike compound, having two or three heads. Leers. 
Clus. ii. 110— J.B. iii. 506. 2—17. Ox. viii. 16. 10— Pet. 4. 8. 
Isle of Thanet. Ray. 
P. maritAma. Leaves strap-shaped, channelled, mostly entire; woolly 
at the base; spike and stalk cylindrical, (the latter longer than 
the leaves. E.) 
( Hook. FI. Lond. 193. E.)— FI. Dan. 243— E. Bot. 175— Dod. 108— Lob. 
Obs. 163. 2— Ger. Em. 423. 3— Park. 598. 1—17. Ox. viii. 17. 34— Ger. 
343. 3— J. B. iii. 511. 3— Ger. Em. 425. 1. 
Root wood-like, inversely conical at the crown. Stalk five or six inches 
high. Spike one to one inch and a half long, bent at a right angle before 
flowering. Leaves fleshy, convex on the lower, channelled on the upper 
surface, generally entire, but sometimes in maritime situations, with a 
few minute teeth. Floral-leaves keeled. Blossom , tube woolly. Anthers 
yellow. 
* Linnaeus says it is eaten by horses, sheep, and goats, and that cows refuse it; but 
Haller attributes the iichness of the milk, in the famous alpine dairies, to this plant and 
Alchemilla vulgaris .—The total absence of this plant in marshy lands is a certain crite¬ 
rion of the wretched quality thereof. In proportion as such soils are meliorated by drain¬ 
ing, this plant will flourish and abound. It is often sown and cultivated for pasturage 
but does not answer the purpose well-without a mixture of clover or other grasses. Sheep 
will eat it either green or dried, provided it be well gotten. Rev. S. Dickenson. When it 
grows detached from other plants, as it frequently does by the sides of footpaths, I 
have never seen cattle touch it, but they certainly do eat it mixed with other herbage. 
(In rocky situations, as among the mountains in 'Wales, it serves to prevent the soil from 
being washed away, and has been known to keep a large district fertile, which would other¬ 
wise have been entirely barren. Salisbury. Arctia Plantaginis } and Livia Plantaginis , 
are found upon the different species. E.) 
