Plantago rhodosperma

Plant: Annual herb; to 33 cm tall Leaves: petiolate; blades lanceolate, 3-8.5 cm long, 0.8-2.2 cm wide, attenuate at base, acute at apex, sparsely villous, distinctly 3-veined, sometimes with 2-4 widely-spaced teeth INFLORESCENCE: pedunculate, scapose; PEDUNCLES 0.5-38 cm long, sparsely to densely villous. SPIKES 1.5-14.5 cm long, interrupted near base; bracts subulate to narrowly triangular to broadly triangular, 2.4-4 mm long, narrowly scarious-margined at base, ciliate Flowers: with sepals ovate, 2-3 mm long, broadly scarious-margined, acute to acuminate at apex, evenly hirsute; corolla lobes erect, enclosing the capsule (sometimes spreading in staminate flowers), lanceolate, 2-3.5 mm long; stamens 4 Fruit: capsules, breaking at middle; SEEDS 2, ellipsoid, 1-2.5 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, deep red, the inner surface flat, the outer surface alveolateFRUIT CAPSULE breaking at middle; SEEDS 2, ellipsoid, 1-2.5 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, deep red, the inner surface flat, the outer surface alveolate Misc: Sandy soils, common in shrublands; 600-1300 m (1500-2500 ft.); Mar-May References: Huisinga, Kristin D. and Tina J. Ayers. 1999. Plantaginaceae. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. 32(1).

Huisinga and Ayers 1999

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Annual herb to 33 cm tall, dioecious. Leaves: Petiolate, blades lanceolate, 3-8.5 cm long, 0.8-2.2 cm wide, attenuate at base, acute at apex, sparsely villous, distinctly 3-veined, sometimes with 2-4 widely spaced teeth. Flowers: Spikes 1.5-14.5 cm long, interrupted near base, on peduncles 0.5-3.8 cm long, sparsely to densely villous; bracts subulate to narrowly triangular to broadly triangular, 2.4-4 mm long, narrowly scarious-margined at base, ciliate; ovate sepals, 2-3 mm long, broadly scarious-margined, acute to acuminate at apex, evenly hirsute; corolla lobes erect, enclosing capsule, lanceolate, 2-3.5 mm long, 4 stamens. Fruits: Capsule breaking at middle, seeds deep red, 1-2.5 mm long, about 1 mm wide. Ecology: Found in sandy soils, often common in shrublands from 1,500-3,000 ft (457-914 m); flowers March-May. Notes: Difficult to distinguish from P. virginica, minus the unmistakable character of the red seeds. Barring fruiting structures, it is difficult to distinguish the two apart. Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in this genera have a variety of uses. Etymology: Plantago translates to foot-sole in reference to leaf habit on ground, while rhodosperma means red-seeded. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley, 2010

A southwestern sp. with the keel of the sep excurrent, and with the seeds with nearly flat sides and short hilum, probably does not reach our range.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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