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Magnoliopsida
Plantago major L.
EOL Text
Evidence of this native species has been found in pre-Neolithic deposits (1). It is very common and widespread in Britain and is also found throughout mainland Europe, in north Africa, northern and central Asia. It has become naturalised in most temperate parts of the world (2). Subspecies intermedia has been widely under-recorded and has a much smaller range (3).
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
| Source | http://www.arkive.org/greater-plantain/plantago-major/ |
Canada
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked
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| Rights holder/Author | Broaddus, Lynn, NatureServe |
| Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Plantago+major |
Distribution: Throughout Europe, northern and central Asia, introduced all over the world.
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| Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
| Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200022050 |
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
Reasons: Abundant through Europe, Northern U.S. and Canada.
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| Rights holder/Author | Broaddus, Lynn, NatureServe |
| Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Plantago+major |
Europe and W. Asia, widely introduced elsewhere.
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| Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
| Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=200022050 |
Not threatened (3).
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
| Source | http://www.arkive.org/greater-plantain/plantago-major/ |
This perennial herb flowers from May to October (1), and is pollinated by wind (2). A single plant can produce as many as 15,000 seeds (1). This ubiquitous plant was called 'English man's foot' by the Native Americans of New England as it seemed to crop up in the very footsteps of the settlers (5). The leaves are very resistant to trampling, and as a result they were thought to heal bruises and wounds caused by crushing (4). They were also used to treat ulcers and sores (5). Under the name 'way-bread' it was one of the nine sacred herbs of the Anglo-Saxons. In fact the leaves do actually contain tannins and certain astringent substances that soothe cuts and nettle stings (4), and they are still used in parts of Shetland for burns and wounds (5).
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
| Source | http://www.arkive.org/greater-plantain/plantago-major/ |
Vern.: Kashmir: Gul.-Isafgol; N.W.F.P.: Ghuzhbe; Punjab: Gaz pipal. (Fruits); Baluchistan: Bartung; (Seeds:) Kahri Gosh; English: Nipple Grass, Waybread; Great plantain.
Perennial acaulescent herbs, variable with short stout, erect, truncate, rootstocks and numerous adventitious roots. Leaves in rosettes, spirally arranged, petiolate, sometimes not clearly distinguished into petiole and lamina; lamina ovate elliptic or rarely rotundate (1-) 10-20 (-30) cm long, (1-) 4-9 (-17) cm broad, rounded at apex, entire, subentire or sinuately dentate, 3-9 nerved, nerves divergent at the base, bases tapering and decurrent into long sheathing petioles usually equalling the lamina. Scapes many, 13-15 (-70) cm long, arched, erect, glabrous to slightly pilose. Spikes dense or lax, slender, narrow-cylindric, 5-15 cm long. Bracts equalling or shorter than the calyx, ovate-oblong, ± acute, brownish with a brown keel, margins scarious. Calyx 3 mm long, glabrous; sepals broadly elliptic, oblong to rounded obtuse or subacute, obtusely keeled, margins broadly scarious. Corolla greenish or yellowish white, 2-4 mm long, glabrous, lobes elliptic- ovate to narrowly triangular, 1-1.15 mm long, obtuse or acute, reflexed. Anthers at first lilac, later whitish or yellowish. Capsule 2-3 mm long, globose or subconic, glabrous. Seeds minute, 6-10 (-34), angulate, dull black, rugulose, 1-1.7 mm long, 0.8 mm broad.
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| Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
| Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=200022050 |
This species is not threatened at present.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
| Source | http://www.arkive.org/greater-plantain/plantago-major/ |
Greater plantain Plantago major is a familiar plant that forms a rosette of dark green leaves that lie close to the ground. The flowers are borne on a narrow spike, earning the species the alternative name of 'rats' tails' (4). A subspecies (Plantago major intermedia) was described in Britain in 1958 (3). This subspecies tends to be a smaller plant, with fewer veins on the leaves (2), however its morphological characteristics are not yet clear, and more work in this area is required (3).
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
| Source | http://www.arkive.org/greater-plantain/plantago-major/ |