Plantago cordata

Perennials; caudex well developed, conspicuous, glabrous; roots fibrous, thick. Stems 0–20 mm. Leaves 100–300 × 80–200 mm; petiole to 300 mm; blade broadly oval to cordate-ovate, margins entire, veins conspicuous, laterals branching from midvein distal to base, surfaces glabrous. Scapes 200–300 mm, glabrous. Spikes brownish or greenish, 100–500 mm, loosely flowered, rachis visible between flowers; bracts round-ovate, 2 mm, length 0.8–1 times sepals. Flowers: sepals 2–2.5 mm; corolla radially symmetric, lobes spreading, 2–2.5 mm, base obtuse; stamens 4. Seeds 2–4, 2.5–3.5 mm. 2n = 24.

Phenology: Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat: Rocky or gravelly beds of shallow, slow-moving streams, sloughs, swamps.
Elevation: 0–200 m.

Ont., Ala., Ark., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Ky., Md., Mich., Miss., Mo., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Tenn., Va., Wis.

Discussion

Plantago cordata is listed as federally endangered in Canada and is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa