Plantaginaceae
Plantago

Plantago afra L.

First published in Sp. Pl., ed. 2.: 168 (1762)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Macaronesia, Medit. to Pakistan and Arabian Peninsula Sahara to Tanzania. It is an annual and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

Ghazanfar, S. A. & Edmondson, J. R (Eds). (2014) Flora of Iraq, Volume 5 Part 2: Lythraceae to Campanulaceae.

Morphology General Habit
Annual, 2–15(–25) cm tall, stem distinct, erect or ascending, elongated and branched or branched at base, glandular, hirsute and pubescent or short-pilose; internodes (2–)3– 6(–7) cm long
Morphology Leaves
Leaves opposite, with fascicles in axils hence appearing whorled, narrowly linear to linear-lanceolate, 10–40(–50) × (0.5–)1–2 mm, entire or bidentate, flat or with somewhat recurved edges, short-pilose, hirsute or pubescent, ± glandular
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Spike round ellipsoid or shortly ovoid-subglobose, (3–)6–20 mm long; bract of lower flowers ovate lanceolate, long- or short-acuminate, 3–5 mm, or with long point up to 8 mm long, midrib herbaceous, gradually narrowed to a point, lateral lamina distinct in base of bract, but bracts of the upper flowers of spike lanceolate, short-acuminate or acute, 3–4 mm long, short-pilose or hispid, pubescent or not, margins ciliate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 3–3.5(–4) mm, midrib distinct, herbaceous, lateral lamina scarious, sparsely short pilose, pubescent or not, margins ciliate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla lobes narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 2–2.5 mm, acute, glabrous; corolla tube glabrous, 3.5–5 mm, rugulose
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers
Anthers slightly exserted
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule oblong-subglobose, 2-locular, each locule 1-seeded
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds cymbiform, glabrous.
Ecology
Cultivated and waste ground, fallow fields on silty or sandy soils, stony and gravelly hillsides, in between rocks on mountains and on gravelly banks near river and in wooded hillside and gullies; alt. 10–550 m
Phenology
Feb.–Jun.
Distribution
Frequent in Upper Plains and Foothills Region, less frequent in the Lower Mesopotamian Region and Desert Plateau Region; also found in the Mountain Region. Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Mediterranean Islands to Iran, E of India and Middle Asia; introduced into C Europe and N America.
[FIQ]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Plantaginaceae, B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit
Annual herb 15-50 cm. tall, erect or ascending; stems with a mixture of rigid hairs and minute glandular hairs.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves opposite, linear to linear-lanceolate, 1.5-6 cm. long, 1-5 mm. wide, entire or with a few teeth, narrowed at both ends, glabrescent or with short and long hairs mixed, sometimes villous near the base.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescences borne in upper leaf-axils, the spikes small, (0.5-)0.8-l.5 cm. long; peduncles 1-5 cm. long; bracts ovate or narrowly ovate, 3.5-5 mm. long, drawn out into a long acumen at the apex, altogether ± 8 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 3-4 mm. long, hairy and glandular, the posticous pair narrowly ovate to broadly oblanceolate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla cream to yellow, ± 4 mm. long; lobes ovate, 2 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule ellipsoid or rounded-ellipsoid, 3-3.5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds reddish-brown, shining, oblong-ellipsoid, 2-3.25(-4) mm. long, convex on dorsal surface, concave-sulcate on hilar surface.
Figures
Fig. 1/10, p. 3.
[FTEA]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Iraq

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0