Plantago patagonica

Plantago patagonica
Blooming near Silver City, New Mexico
Conservation status
Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Embryophytes
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Spermatophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Plantaginaceae
Genus:	Plantago
Species:	P. patagonica
Binomial name
Plantago patagonica Jacq.

Plantago patagonica is a species of plantain known by the common name woolly plantain. It is native to much of North America and to Argentina in South America. It grows in many types of habitat, including grassland, desert and woodlands. It is a hairy annual herb producing narrow leaves usually not exceeding 15 centimeters (6 in). There are usually many stemlike inflorescences growing straight upwards to a maximum height of around 15 cm (6 in).

Description

Woolly plantain is a small plant with a thin taproot and usually covered in woolly hairs. It can be an annual, a winter annual, a biennial, and might rarely grow as a short-lived perennial. They can have simple crown or a caudex with as many as four branches, each producing a rosette of narrow leaves. It can have a very short true stem up to 4 centimeters (1.6 in) long, but can also lack one.

Almost all the leaves are basal, with the winter rosette leaves just 0.3 to 3 cm long. The later, principal leaves are linear-oblanceolate, a narrow and almost grass-like reversed spear head. Each typically measuring 2 to 15 centimeters (1–6 in) long, though rarely reaching 20 cm (8 in). They are just 0.5–7 millimeters wide, though sometimes as much as 15 mm. Leaf tips are sharply pointed to long and drawn out and the leaf may have one to three noticeable veins.

When flowering each plant grows 1 to 20 inflorescences that are spikes, the flowers being attached directly to the main stem rather than by a peduncle. Each spike is atop a scape, a leafless flower stem, 4 to 24 centimeters (1.6–9.4 in) tall, but occasionally just 1 cm or as much as 26 cm. The spikes are densely packed with tiny flowers and 1 to 15 cm (0.5–6 in) long, though typically 5 to 10 cm (2–4 in). The total height of the plant does not often surpass 15 cm (6 in) in total height.

Flowers on spikes

Though the flowers are not conventionally attractive the very woolly spike is considered pleasant looking by some botanical writers. The four petals of the flowers are translucent white with a paper-like texture, just 1–2 millimeters long. Each flower has four stamens that are contained within the flower or protruding slightly.

Taxonomy

Plantago patagonica was given its scientific name by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin in 1795. It is classified in the genus Plantago as part of the Plantaginaceae family. It has no accepted varieties but has many among its 30 botanical synonyms along with 11 species names.

Table of Synonyms

Name	Year	Notes
Plantago candicans Decne.	1852	nom. illeg.
Plantago canescens Schrad. ex Decne.	1852	not validly publ.
Plantago gnaphalioides Nutt.	1818
Plantago ignota E.Morris	1901
Plantago limarensis F.Phil. ex Phil.	1895
Plantago oblonga E.Morris	1901
Plantago picta E.Morris	1901	nom. illeg.
Plantago purshii Roem. & Schult.	1818
Plantago spinulosa Decne.	1852
Plantago wyomingensis Gand.	1919
Plantago xerodea E.Morris	1909

Names

The species name, patagonica, is Botanical Latin meaning 'from Patagonia'. The species was given this name because the first specimens collected were from the Patagonia region of what is now Argentina. It is usually called woolly plantain, but is also known as Patagonia plantain.

Range and habitat

In the northern hemisphere woolly plantain is native to western Canada, most of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico. In South America it is native to much of Argentina. It is not found in the tropical areas of the Americas between these two highly disjunct populations. It has been found in Kentucky, but is not thought to be native to the state and has also been found growing in both Germany and Italy.

In Canada it grows in the four western provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. In US it is native to all the contiguous states except for Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. In Mexico it is found in the northern states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León.

Ecology

Woolly plantain is a host species for the Edith's checkerspot butterfly.

References

Sources

Books

• Heil, Kenneth D.; O'Kane, Steve L. Jr.; Reeves, Linda Mary; Clifford, Arnold (2013). Flora of the Four Corners Region: Vascular Plants of the San Juan River Drainage, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah (First ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. ISBN 978-1-930723-84-9. ISSN 0161-1542. LCCN 2012949654. OCLC 859541992. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
• Holloway, Joel Ellis (2005). Neill, Amanda (ed.). A Dictionary of Common Wildflowers of Texas & the Southern Great Plains. Fort Worth, Texas: TCU Press. ISBN 978-0-87565-309-9. OCLC 61451157.
• Kuijt, Job (1972). Common Coulee Plants of Southern Alberta (First ed.). Lethbridge, Alberta: University of Lethbridge. OCLC 15950981. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
• McGregor, Ronald L.; Brooks, Ralph E. (1986). "122. Plantaginaceae Juss., the Plantain Family". In McGregor, Ronald L.; Barkley, T. M.; Brooks, Ralph E.; Schofield, Eileen K. (eds.). Flora of the Great Plains. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0295-7. OCLC 13093762. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
• Quinn, Meg (2000). Wildflowers of the Desert Southwest. Tucson, Arizona: Rio Nuevo Publishers. ISBN 978-1-887896-25-2. OCLC 45594687. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
• Stubbendieck, James L.; Hatch, Stephan L.; Butterfield, Charles H.; Jansen, Bellamy Parks (1992). North American range plants (4th ed.). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-4218-0. OCLC 23356788. Retrieved 16 April 2026.
• Taylor, Ronald J. (1992). Sagebrush Country : A Wildflower Sanctuary (Revised ed.). Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-87842-280-7. OCLC 25708726.

Web sources

• Hassler, Michael (30 March 2026). "Plantago patagonica in the Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World Flora. Version 26.03". World Plants. Retrieved 17 April 2026.
• NatureServe (3 April 2026). "Plantago patagonica". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
• POWO (2026). "Plantago patagonica Jacq". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 7 April 2026.
• VASCAN; Acadia University; Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centre; University of Toronto Mississauga; University of British Columbia (2026). "Plantago patagonica Jacquin - Database of Vascular Plants of Canada (VASCAN)". Canadensys. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2026.