Plantago australis subsp. hirtella

PLANT: Plants to 49 cm tall. LEAVES: with blades ovate, 4.5-20 cm long, 1-4.5 cm wide, sparsely pilose to densely pilose on veins, distinctly 5-veined, the margins entire. PEDUNCLES: 2-40 cm long, densely villous, some appearing ridged to four-sided. SPIKES: 2-19 cm long; bracts narrowly triangular, 2.5-4 mm long; midvein thick, sparsely villous. FLOWERS: sepals ovate, 2-2.8 mm long, the margins thin, scarious; midvein keeled, with sparse pubescence; corolla lobes 3-3.5 mm long, lanceolate, erect, enclosing the capsule (spreading in staminate flowers), lanceolate, 3-3.5 mm long; stamens 4. SEEDS: 3, 1-2 mm long, ca. 0.8 mm wide, light to dark brown, olive-green, or black, the inner surface flat, the outer surface areolate. NOTES: Pine-oak forest: Cochise, Coconino, Pima cos.; 1600-2350 m (5300-7700 ft.); Jun-Aug; Mex., s to nw Argentina. REFERENCES: Huisinga, Kristin D. and Tina J. Ayers. 1999. Plantaginaceae. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. 32(1).