Plantaginaceae
Plantago

Plantago cretica L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 114 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Greece to Iraq and Israel. 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, acaulous, 5–15 cm tall, villous, especially peduncles and flowers; roots filiform
Morphology Leaves
Leaves linear-lanceolate or lanceolate to spatulate-lanceolate, (2–)4–12 × (0.2–)0.5–0.7 cm, apex obtuse, base gradually narrowed, margins usually entire or with a few short teeth, hirsute or villous, at base lanate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Peduncles
Peduncle much shorter than leaves, 1–2.5 cm, arcuate- reflexed, lanate-villous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Spike globose to ovoid-globose, 8–12 mm long; bract elliptic lanceolate, acute or shortly acuminate, a little concave, gradually narrowed to apex, ± 6 mm long in the lower flowers of spike, shorter in upper flowers, 4–4.5 mm, and not narrowed to apex, long yellow-pilose, hirsute, or short rigid-pilose, lateral lamina narrower than the distinct midrib
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals 3.5–4 mm long, anterior elliptic, obtuse, unequal, with broad herbaceous midrib, and narrow thin scarious lateral lamina, long pilose-villous, posterior sepals broadly ovate-elliptic, membranous, midrib narrower than lateral lamina, upper margin and midrib sparsely rigid-pilose
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla lobes broad, orbicular-ovate, 2–2.5 × 1.2–1.5 mm, without veins, reflexed, acute or shortly acuminate, corolla tube 3 mm long, glabrous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens Anthers
Apex of anthers broad, membranous
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Capsule globose, 2-locular, each locule 1-seeded
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds ovoid.
Ecology
Fallow land, clay soil between rocks on mountain slopes; alt. ± 450 m
Phenology
Apr.–Jun.
Distribution
Upper Plains and Foothills Region and in the Mountain Region. Greece, Cyprus and Turkey east to Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and eastern Iraq.
[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]

Uses

Use
Recorded to be good fodder for goats (Blakelock, loc. cit.).
[FIQ]

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

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • 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