Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
African Plantain, Black Psyllium
Description
Genus Plantago
Annual
or perennial
, or mostly acaulescent
herbs, sometimes an undershrub. Leaves usually all radical
, sometimes cauline. Flowers hermaphrodite, dimorphic
, polygamous, usually in many-flowered cylindrical spikes, rarely capitate. Calyx lobes
subequal
or 2 large and 2 small. Corolla tube
cylindrical, sometimes contracted
at the throat
, usually equalling the calyx, sometimes exserted, lobes 4, equal, patent
. Stamens 4, inserted
at or above the middle
of the corolla tube, often exserted. Ovary 2-locular or 3-4-locular with false free
septa; locules with 1 to many ovules. Capsule membranous, circumscissile. Seeds usually peltate, testa thin, mucilaginous
, albumen fleshy
.
A cosmopolitan
genus, with approximately 270 species, which is represented in Pakistan by nearly 20 species.[1]
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,936 meters (0 to 16,194 feet).[2]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
)
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Asteridae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Lamianae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Lamiales
(
)
- Bromhead, 1838
- Family:
Plantaginaceae
(
)
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- Subfamily:
Plantaginoideae
(
)
- Genus:
Plantago
(
)
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Plantain
- Specific epithet:
afra
- L.
- Botanical name: - Plantago afra L.
- Specific epithet:
afra
- L.
- Genus:
Plantago
(
- Subfamily:
Plantaginoideae
(
- Family:
Plantaginaceae
(
- Order:
Lamiales
(
- Superorder:
Lamianae
(
- Subclass:
Asteridae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : L. Publication : Sp. Pl., ed. 2. 1: 168 1762 [Sep 1762]
Similar Species
Members of the genus Plantago
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 58 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
P. afra (African Plantain) · P. argyraea (Salt-Meadow Plantain) · P. aristata (Bottlebrush Indianwheat) · P. australis (Mexican Plantain) · P. australis subnuda (Mexican Plantain) · P. australis subsp. hirtella (Mexican Indianwheat) · P. bigelovii (Coast Plantain) · P. bigelovii subsp. californica (Coast Plantain) · P. californica californica (Coast Plantain) · P. canescens (Gray Pubescent Plantain) · P. cordata (Heartleaf Plantain) · P. coronopus (Buckhorn Plaintain Plantago Coronopus) · P. debilis (Weak Plantain) · P. depauperata (Goldeye Rockfish) · P. elongata (Longleaf Plantain) · P. elongata subsp. pentasperma (Prairie Plantain) · P. erecta (California Plantain) · P. eriopoda (Alkali Plantain) · P. firma (Chilean Plantain) · P. hawaiensis (Hawai'i Plantain) · P. helleri (Heller's Plantain) · P. heterophylla (Slender Plantain) · P. hookeriana (California Plantain) · P. lanceolata (Buckhorn Plantain) · P. macrocarpa (Seashore Plantain) · P. major (Broadleaf Plantain) · P. major pleiosperma (Broadleaf Plantain) · P. major var. major (Broadleaf Plantain) · P. major var. polysperma (Broadleaf Plantain) · P. major 'Atropurpurea' (Cuckoos Bread) · P. major 'Giant' (Cuckoos Bread) · P. major 'Rosularis' (Cuckoos Bread) · P. major 'Rubrifolia' (Cuckoos Bread) · P. maritima (Alkali Plantain) · P. maritima var. californica (California Goose Tongue) · P. maritima var. juncoides (Goose Tongue) · P. media (Hoary Plantain) · P. media stepposa (Hoary Plantain) · P. moorei (Moore's Plantain) · P. ovata (Desert Indianwheat) · P. pachyphylla (Maui Plantain) · P. patagonica (Indian Wheat) · P. princeps (Ale) · P. princeps var. anomala (Ale) · P. princeps var. laxiflora (Ale) · P. princeps var. longibracteata (Ale) · P. princeps var. princeps (Ale) · P. psyllium (Dark Psyllium) · P. pusilla (Dwarf Plantain) · P. rhodosperma (Redseed Indianwheat) · P. rugelii (Black-Seed Plantain) · P. rugelii var. asperula (Blackseed Plantain) · P. rugelii var. rugelii (Blackseed Plantain) · P. sparsiflora (Pineland Plantain) · P. subnuda (Tall Coastal Plantain) · P. tweedyi (Tweedy Plantain) · P. virginica (Hoary Plantain) · P. wrightiana (Wright Plantain)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Madrid: La Sociedad, url p. 397.
- Arboretum et fruticetum Britannicum; or, The trees and shrubs of Britain, native and foreign, hardy and half-hardy, pictorially and botanically delineated, and scientifically and popularly described; with their propagation, culture, mana London, Henry G. Bohn, 1854. url p. 50.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 27, 2007:
- Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen, Biologiezentrum Linz
- Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Herbarium Willing
- Bundesamt für Naturschutz / Zentralstelle für Phytodiversität Deutschland, Bundesamt fuer Naturschutz / Zentralstelle fuer Phytodiversitaet Deutschland
- Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien, Conservatoire botanique national du Bassin parisien
- GBIF-Spain, Botánica, Universidad de León: LEB-Cormo
- GBIF-Spain, Dirección General de Investigación, Desarrollo Tecnológico e Innovación de la Junta de Extremadura(DGIDTI): HSS
- GBIF-Spain, Herbario Universidad de Málaga: MGC-Cormófitos
- GBIF-Spain, Hortus Botanicus Sollerensis Herbarium
- GBIF-Spain, Institut Botanic de Barcelona, BC
- GBIF-Spain, Jardín Botánico de Córdoba: Herbarium COA
- GBIF-Spain, Real Jardin Botanico
- , Vascular Plant Herbarium
- GBIF-Spain, Universidad de Almería, HUAL
- Herbarium Hamburgense, Impetus - Herbarium Hamburgense
- Herbarium of the University of Aarhus, The AAU Herbarium Database
- International Plant Genetic Resources Institute(IPGRI), EURISCO
- Israel Nature and Parks Authority, Israel Nature and Parks Authority
- Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research
- , IPK Genebank
- Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
- Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Vascular Plant Herbarium, Oslo
- Steiermärkisches Landesmuseum Joanneum - Herbarium GJO, Herbarium GJO
- SysTax, Herbarium Universitat Ulm
- SysTax, Justus-Liebig-Universitat Giessen
- SysTax, Museu Botanico Municipal
- SysTax, SysTax
- The Swedish Museum of Natural History
- , Lund Botanical Museum
- UK National Biodiversity Network, Botanical Society of the British Isles - Vascular Plants Database
- University of Vienna, Institute for Botany - Herbarium WU, Herbarium WU
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 1672895
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 4490920
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:684830-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 684830-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 883185
Footnotes
- "Plantago". in Flora of Pakistan . Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
- Mean = 473.790 meters (1,554.429 feet), Standard Deviation = 597.820 based on 776 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
