Plantago maritima
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| Plantago maritima | ||||||||||||||
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| Plantago maritima L. |
Plantago maritima (Sea Plantain, Seaside Plantain, Goose Tongue) is a species of Plantago, family Plantaginaceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution in temperate and Arctic regions, native to most of Europe, northwest Africa, northern and central Asia, northern North America, and southern South America.[1][2]
It is a herbaceous perennial plant with a dense rosette of stemless leaves. Each leaf is linear, 2-22 cm long and under 1 cm broad, thick and fleshy-textured, with an acute apex and a smooth or distantly toothed margin; there are three to five veins. The flowers are small, greenish-brown with brown stamens, produced in a dense spike 0.5-10 cm long on top of a stem 3-20 cm tall.[3][4][5]
There are four subspecies:[2][5]
- Plantago maritima subsp. maritima. Europe, Asia, northwest Africa.
- Plantago maritima subsp. borealis (Lange) A. Blytt and O. Dahl. Arctic regions. All parts of the plant small, compared to temperate plants.
- Plantago maritima subsp. juncoides (Lam.) Hultén. South America, North America (the application of this name to North American plants has been questioned[5]).
- Plantago maritima subsp. serpentina (All.) Arcang. Central Europe, on serpentine soils in mountains.
[edit] Ecology
In much of the range it is strictly coastal, growing on sandy soils. In some areas, it also occurs in alpine habitats, along mountain streams.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Germplasm Resources Information Network: Plantago maritima
- ^ a b Flora Europaea: Plantago maritima
- ^ a b Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN 0-340-40170-2
- ^ Plants of British Columbia: Plantago maritima
- ^ a b c Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Plantago maritima
