Family |
Plantaginaceae
Plantago major
L.
Plantago major L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 112 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 284, Pl. CXLIV, 1; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial herb of variable size, commonly 10–70 cm tall or more. Leafless flowering stalks ascend or stand erect, equalling or exceeding the leaves.
Leaves: Stalked, rounded-ovate to ovate-elliptic, usually 5–10 cm long and 4–6 cm wide, sometimes larger; with 3–7 prominent veins. Margins are entire or wavy-toothed, surfaces hairless or sparsely hairy.
Inflorescence & flowers: Narrow, cylindrical, hairless spikes, usually 5–10 cm long and sometimes reaching 20 cm. Bracts are ovate and keeled, nearly as long as the calyx; calyx and corolla lobes are blunt and ovate.
Fruit: Capsules containing several angular seeds.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering throughout most or all of the year.
Habitat & elevation: Somewhat moist places.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Saida, Beirut, Nahr Beirut, Tripoli, Hammana–Qrayye, Dimane, Ehden, Yammoune, Qab Elias, Ksara and Kornet Chehwan.
Syrian distribution: Alawite Mountains, Banias, Damascus, Hame and Homs.
Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Buryatiya, Canary Is., Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Central European Russia, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Chita, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Egypt, Finland, France, Free State, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hainan, Hungary, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Irkutsk, Italy, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kriti, Krym, Kuril Is., KwaZulu-Natal, Lebanon-Syria, Lesotho, Libya, Madeira, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northern Provinces, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Primorye, Qinghai, Romania, Sakhalin, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Yemen.
Introduced into: Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, Aleutian Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Argentina South, Arizona, Arkansas, Ascension, Assam, Azores, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, British Columbia, California, Cambodia, Chagos Archipelago, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Christmas I., Colombia, Colorado, Connecticut, Cook Is., Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, Desventurados Is., District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, DR Congo, Easter Is., El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Florida, French Guiana, Føroyar, Galápagos, Georgia, Greenland, Guatemala, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, Iceland, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Jamaica, Juan Fernández Is., Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, Labrador, Laos, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Louisiana, Maine, Malaya, Manitoba, Marshall Is., Maryland, Massachusetts, Mauritius, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Myanmar, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Caledonia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New Zealand North, Newfoundland, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Is., North Carolina, North Dakota, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Panamá, Pennsylvania, Peru, Pitcairn Is., Prince Edward I., Puerto Rico, Québec, Rhode I., Samoa, Saskatchewan, Seychelles, Society Is., South Carolina, South Dakota, Southwest Caribbean, St.Helena, Sumatera, Suriname, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Tristan da Cunha, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Uruguay, Utah, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Vermont, Vietnam, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon, Zambia, Zimbabwe.