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Most Excellent Weed Gallery

Plantain Family

        

Plantaginaceae - Plantain family
Virginia Plantain (Paleseed Plantain, Dwarf Plantain) Plantago virginica
Long flower stalk about 8" tall drying to brown in hot weather. Multiple long flower spike from center. Flowers are tiny with erect petals that look like yellow "seeds" when mature. Young flowers have long yellow/purple anthers. Basal spatulate leaves variable, can be very wide (not as wide as Broadleaf Plantain), entire or have very tiny wide spaced teeth, round tip to almost pointed, 3-5 veins. Stalks and leaves hairy.
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April-May 2004
(Native of Texas - Taylor, Callahan, Coleman, Brown, Runnels)

Similar Species

Broadleaf Plantain (Common Plantain) Plantago major (Plantago asiatica)
Long flower stalk 6"-18" tall drying to brown in hot weather. Flowers very small. Leaves very but can be nearly round, basal only, 8" long or longer, 5-9 veins. Stalks and leaves not hairy.
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April-May 2004
(Introduced, native of Eurasia, invasive - Coke)

Redseed Plantain Plantago rhodosperma
Very similar to Virginia Plantain except the "seeds" are red/yellow when mature. Basal spatulate leaves have wide spaced teeth, can get wide, often folded.
(Native of Texas - Taylor, Shackelford, Callahan, Coleman, Brown, Coke, Nolan)

        

Plantaginaceae - Plantain family
Heller's Plantain Plantago helleri
Flower spike 1"-3" tall on a thick fuzzy stem. Flowers nearly cover spike. Linear leaves are fuzzy. Plant grows to about 8" tall.
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April 2004
(Native of Texas - Taylor, etc.)

  

Plantaginaceae - Plantain family
Wright's Plantain Plantago wrightiana
Flowers are similar to Heller's Plantain but stem is longer with a narrower flower spike. Flower stalks circle leaves, to 12" tall. Linear leaves, 3-5 veins.
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, June 2007
(Native of Texas - Taylor, Callahan, Coleman, Brown, Runnels, Coke, Fisher)

        

Plantaginaceae - Plantain family
Woolly Plantain Plantago patagonica (Plantago purshii)
This is similar to Heller's Plantain but the flowers are smaller with a lighter center and the bracts are much longer. Flower spike 1"-3" tall on a thin stem. Leaves are long but not as fuzzy as Heller's. Plant grows to 6"-8" tall.
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April-May 2005
(Native of Texas - Taylor, Coleman, Brown, Coke, Nolan)

Asclepiadaceae (Asclepiodora) - Milkweed family
Largebracted Plantain (Bracted Plantain) Plantago aristata
Long spike, with tiny white flowers and very long bracts, can be up to 6" tall. Thin leaves. Plant grows to 8"-10" tall.
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April 2004
(Native of Texas - Brown)

Second Specimen

  

Photos taken by Sonnia Hill in Van Zandt County, Texas, May 2003

Other Species in My Area

California Plantain Plantago hookeriana
Similar to Heller's Plantain?
(Native of Texas - Taylor, Fisher)

Narrowleaf Plantain (Ribwort, Ribgrass, English Plantain) Plantago lanceolata (Plantago altissima)
Spike of flowers is a dark cone with ring of white flowers starting at base (like a Dalea). Flower stem is very long. Long wide leaves at base.
(Introduced, native of British Islands, invasive - Brown)
See similar Dalea