Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

RED-SEED PLANTAIN

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Plantago rhodosperma Decne.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 3-18 inches

Family: Plantaginaceae - Plantain Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June

Stems:

Stems absent or essentially so. Plants coarse, pubescent, gray-green.

Leaves:

Basal; petioles often reddish at base; blades oblanceolate to elliptic, 1.8 to 8.6 inches long, .4 to 1.6 inch wide, margins entire or remotely dentate, tip acute.

Inflorescences:

Terminal spikes, long-cylindric, .8 to 8 inches; bracts lanceolate to linear, 0.8 to 1.2 times as long as calyx; peduncles appressed-pubescent or hairs loosely ascending.

Flowers:

Calyx 4-lobed, lobes ovate-lanceolate, 1/10 to 1/7 inch, margins broadly membranous, somewhat translucent; corolla semi-transparent but sometimes appearing white, tubular, 4-lobed, lobes 1/12 to 1/8 inch, erect, forming beak over capsule; stamens 4.

Fruits:

Capsules ovoid, .2 to .28 inch; seeds 2, dark red, ovate to narrowly ovate, 1/12 to 1/8 inch.

Habitat:

Sandy to rocky tallgrass, mixed-grass, and sand prairies, glades

Distribution:

East 4/5 of Kansas

Origin:

Native

Comments:

Plantago, sole of the foot + to put forth or extend, alluding to the shape and orientation of leaves of Plantago major, and rhodosperma, red + seed.

Red-seed plantain