General: Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, several, simple, strongly woolly-hairy, 5-20 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves linear, long-hairy, 3-13 cm long, 1-7 mm wide, tapering gradually towards the ends, 3-veined; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers: Inflorescence of dense, woolly-hairy spikes, 1.5-10 cm long, under 1 cm wide; corollas brownish, 4-lobed, the lobes spreading, 1.5-2 mm long; bracts firm, linear with scarious margins at the base, 5 mm long; stamens inconspicuous.
Fruits: Capsules, ellipsoid, 3-4 mm long; seeds 2, light brown, finely veined, 1.5-2 mm long.
Notes: Some long-bracted BC plants have been recognized as var. spinulosa.
Dry slopes, fields and roadsides in the steppe and lower montane zones; locally frequent in SC BC, rare in SE BC; E to MB and S to TX and CA; S. America.
"The family Plantaginaceae includes three genera and an estimated 250-275 species from diverse habitats throughout the world (Pilger 1937). In Canada, the family is represented by two genera containing seven introduced species and ten native species" (Bassett 1973).
References
Bassett, I. John. 1973. The Plantains of Canada. Monograph No. 7. Canada Department of Agriculture.
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Plantago patagonica
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
