Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Plantago aristata
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Bracted Plantain at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
MissouriPlants.com provides (as usual) an excellent description and photographs.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Plantago aristata
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 17 (2019)
Plantago aristata
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 172-01-005:
Plantago aristata FAMILY Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Plantago aristata
COMMON NAME:
Bracted Plantain, Large-bracted Plantain, Buckhorn Plantain
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_plar3_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm140411_822
April Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0405z_15
May Greenville County SC
Field
Leaves narrow, dark green, not fleshy, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977).
)
JK Marlow jkm120512_711
May Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm140524_175
May Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm52110_136
May Spartanburg County SC
Basal leaves to 8" long are linear or very narrowly elliptic, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm52110_139
May Spartanburg County SC
Separated from other Plantains by its narrow leaves and long hairy bracts, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm52110_141
May Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm52111_108
May Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm52310_96
May Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm53010_646
May Spartanburg County SC
Spike 1-6" long with stiff bracts protruding from the flower cluster, per Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm53010_657
May Spartanburg County SC
Linear floral bracts to 1" long extend well past the flowers, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm53010_662
May Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm0506q_12
June Greenville County SC
Roadside
Found in disturbed areas, esp dry, barren exposed soil, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm190608_9080
June Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm210603_1010
June Greenville County SC
Blackwell Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm210605_1098
June Greenville County SC
Blackwell Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm210605_1101
June Greenville County SC
Blackwell Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm210626_1734_copy
June Oconee County SC
Sumter National Forest: Andrew Pickens Ranger District
)
JK Marlow jkm220607_8417
June Greenville County SC
Bald Rock Heritage Preserve
)
Roxanna Martin rlm61811_122
June Spartanburg County SC
The small whitish flowers are about 0.15" wide, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm61811_129
June Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm6411_79
June Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120727_850
July Spartanburg County SC
Fruits are 2-seeded capsules, circumscissile near the middle, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
Mousetail and Plantain
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Plantago aristata
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Plantago aristata
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 17
Plantago aristata
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 172-01-005:
Plantago aristata
FAMILY
Plantaginaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Plantago aristata
1098
Forb
Winter annual
Habitat: Sandy and other barren soils, disturbed areas, especially dry, barren, exposed soil, such as clay soils denuded by bulldozing, per Weakley's Flora
Native: west of the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Basal
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Spikes brownish or green; flowers whitish, translucent
Bilaterally symmetrical
4 sepals
4-lobed corolla
4 barely exserted stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Capsule dehiscing circumscissily
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p146
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p398
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p212
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p097
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p235
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p280
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p234
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p275
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p159
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