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Synonyms: Gratiolaceae Martinov; Littorellaceae Gray; Psylliaceae Horan.
Common name: Plantain Family.
Number of genera 2. Number of species 255.
Angiosperm. Magnoliopsida.
Disseminule a dehisced fruit, or an intact or entire fruit, or a seed.
Fruits
Pistil(s) compound; 1; 1-pistillate; with carpels united. Fruit pericarpium, or anthocarp; simple; capsule; pyxidium capsule (Plantago); capsule not inflated; capsule without operculum; simple; diclesium (Bougueria, Littorella); without persistent central column; with styles(s); at apex; within accessory organ(s), or not within accessory organ(s); within calyx (Bougueria, Littorella); accrescent; persistent; 2-carpellate; with carpels united; with carpels remaining united at maturity; with carpels not radiating at maturity; with carpels remaining connected at style; without sterile carpels; not sulcate; in transection terete; apex not beaked; wall membranaceous; dehiscent, or indehiscent. Dehiscent unit seed(s). Dehiscent passively; and shedding seeds; without replum. Epicarp durable; not glabrous (with hairs); hairs not glandular; without armature; without wing(s); without apical respiratory hole. Endocarp present; not separating from exocarp; thin; not splitting into 1-seeded pyrenes; smooth; without wing; without operculum; without secretory cavities; without mechanism for seedling escape; without grooves; without longitudinal ridges. Funiculus short; short without seed bearing hooks (retinacula); not persisting in fruit after seed shed.
Seeds
Aril absent. Seed larger than minute; 1 to less than 5 mm long; 0.6–4 mm long; oblong, or C-shaped, or elliptic, or angular, or irregular; in transection compressed; not bowl shaped; not nutlike; without winglike beak; without caudate appendage(s); at maturity with food reserves; with endosperm; without canavanine. Sarcotesta absent. Testa present; without markedly different marginal tissue; without fleshy or leathery layer over hard layer; tight; dull, or shiny; surface smooth, or unsmooth; surface with depressed features, or merged raised features; surface punctate; surface reticulate, or wrinkled, or rugose, or striate; without crease or line separating cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle; without notch along margin where cotyledons from hypocotyl-radicle tip approach each other; without glands; without bristles; without wings; without collar; without operculum; colored; monochrome; brown (all shades), or black, or red (dish); Plantago becoming mucilaginous when wetted, or not becoming mucilaginous when wetted; surrounding food reserve. Hilum larger than punctate; marginal; elliptic, or oblong (peltate). Endosperm development cellular; copious to scant (& waxy); fleshy-firm; transparent (translucent); smooth; without fatty acid containing cyclopropene; without apical lobes; without chlorophyll; without isodiametric faceted surface; without odor.
Embryo differentiated from food reserve; well developed; 1 per seed; partially filling testa (with food reserve), or nearly filling testa (trace or scanty food reserve); 0.8–0.9 times the length of food reserve; at one end of seed not extending into a depression or cup; axile and centric, or peripheral (Bougueria); foliate, or linear; with spatulate cotyledons; straight, or arcuate (Bougueria); parallel to seed length; embedded in endosperm; with cotyledons abruptly connected to hypocotyl-radicle, or gradually connected to hypocotyl-radicle; without coleorhiza; without simmondsin; without stomata; not green; with 2 or more cotyledons. Cotyledons 2; well developed, or moderately developed; 0.4–0.6 times length of embryo; as wide as hypocotyl-radicle, or somewhat to significantly wider than hypocotyl-radicle; 1–2 times wider than hypocotyl-radicle; not concealing hypocotyl-radicle; not foliaceous; thin; flat; smooth; with apices entire; with margins separate; basally entire; equal in size; not punctate dotted. Hypocotyl-radicle moderately developed, or well developed; straight; not thickened.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan. New World, Old World. North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia Major, Asia Minor, southeastern Asia, Australia, Oceania.
Weed information
1 or more USA state noxious weeds.
USA states and territories with listed noxious weeds: Alabama (AL), Alaska (AK), Arkansas (AR), Colorado (CO), Connecticut (CT), Florida (FL), Georgia (GA), Idaho (ID), Illinois (IL), Indiana (IN), Iowa (IA), Kansas (KS), Kentucky (KY), Louisiana (LA), Maine (ME), Massachusetts (MA), Michigan (MI), Minnesota (MN), Mississippi (MS), Missouri (MO), North Carolina (NC), Ohio (OH), Oklahoma (OK), Pennsylvania (PA), Rhode Island (RI), South Carolina (SC), Tennessee (TN), Texas (TX), Washington (WA), West Virginia (WV), Wisconsin (WI), Wyoming (WY).
USA state and territory noxious weeds: -- Plantago aristata Michx.: USA state noxious weed: AL°, AR●, GA°, LA°, NC°, OK●°, SC°, TX°. -- Plantago lanceolata L.: USA state noxious weed: AL°, AR●°, CO°, FL°, GA°, IA●°, ID°, IL°, IN°, KS°, KY°, LA°, MA°, ME°, MI●°, MN°, MO°, NC°, OH°, OK●°, PA°, RI°, SC°, TN°, TX°, WI°, WV°, WY°. -- Plantago spp.: USA state noxious weed: AK°, CT°, MS°, WA°. -- Symbols: ªaquatic weed; ●terrestrial weed; °weed in seed. -- Last updated September 2008.
Listed seeds
ASOA listed seeds, ISTA listed seeds.
ASOA listed seeds: -- Antirrhinum L. spp. -- Collinsia heterophylla G. Buist ex Graham -- Collinsia parviflora Douglas ex Lindl. -- Digitalis purpurea L. -- Digitalis L. spp. -- Gratiola neglecta Torr. -- Kickxia spuria (L.) Dumort. -- Limnophila sessiliflora (Vahl) Blume -- Linaria dalmatica (L.) Mill. -- Linaria genistifolia (L.) Mill. -- Linaria genistifolia subsp. dalmatica (L.) Maire & Petitm. = Linaria dalmatica (L.) Mill. -- Linaria maroccana Hook. f. -- Linaria Mill. spp. -- Linaria vulgaris Mill. -- Misopates orontium (L.) Raf. -- Penstemon barbatus (Cav.) Roth -- Penstemon cyananthus Hook. -- Penstemon eatonii A. Gray -- Penstemon grandiflorus Nutt. -- Penstemon hirsutus (L.) Willd. -- Penstemon laevigatus Aiton -- Penstemon palmeri A. Gray -- Penstemon penlandii W. A. Weber -- Penstemon spectabilis Thurb. ex Torr. & A. Gray -- Penstemon Schmidel spp. -- Penstemon strictus Benth. -- Plantago afra L. -- Plantago arenaria Waldst. & Kit. -- Plantago aristata Michx. -- Plantago australis subsp. hirtella (Kunth) Rahn -- Plantago coronopus L. -- Plantago hirtella Kunth = Plantago australis subsp. hirtella (Kunth) Rahn -- Plantago insularis Eastw. = Plantago ovata Forssk. -- Plantago lanceolata L. -- Plantago major L. -- Plantago ovata Forssk. -- Plantago patagonica Jacq. -- Plantago psyllium auct., nom. ambig. = Plantago afra L. -- Plantago psyllium sensu L. 1762 = Plantago arenaria Waldst. & Kit. -- Plantago purshii Roem. & Schult. = Plantago patagonica Jacq. -- Plantago pusilla Nutt. -- Plantago rhodosperma Decne. -- Plantago rugelii Decne. -- Plantago scabra Moench, nom. illeg. = Plantago arenaria Waldst. & Kit. -- Plantago sempervirens Crantz -- Veronica spicata L. = Pseudolysimachion spicatum (L.) Opiz -- Plantago L. spp. -- Plantago virginica L. -- Pseudolysimachion longifolium (L.) Opiz. -- Pseudolysimachion spicatum (L.) Opiz -- Veronica agrestis L. -- Veronica americana Schwein. ex Benth. -- Veronica anagallis-aquatica L. -- Veronica arvensis L. -- Veronica austriaca L. -- Veronica hederifolia L. -- Veronica officinalis L. -- Veronica peregrina L. -- Veronica persica Poir. -- Veronica serpyllifolia L. -- Veronica L. spp. -- Last updated September 2008.
ISTA listed seeds: -- Plantago aristata Michx.w -- Plantago lanceolata L.f -- Plantago major L.w -- Plantago media L.w -- Plantago ovata Forssk. -- Plantago rugelii Decne.w -- Symbols: aagricultural and vegetable seeds (Table 2A Part 1); ttree and shrub species (Table 2A Part 2); fflower, spice, herb, and medicinal seeds (Table 2A Part 3); wweed seeds. -- Last updated September 2008.
Accepted genera
Littorella P. J. Bergius -- Plantago L.
References specific to this family
Cronquist page 935. Swarbrick, J.T. & J.C. Raymond. 1970. The identification of the seeds and achenes of the British Plantaginaceae. Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 34:1123–1129.
General references
Corner, E.J.H. 1976. The seeds of Dicots, esp. vol. 2. Cambridge University Press, New York, Cronquist, A. 1981. An integrated system of classification of flowering plants, 1,262 p. Columbia University Press, New York, Engler, A. and K. Prantl. 1924 and onward. Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilimien. W. Engelman, Leipzig, Gaertner, J. 1788–1805. De fructibus et seminibus plantarum. The Author, Stuttgart, Goldberg, A. 1986 (dicots) and 1989 (monocots). Classification, evolution, and phylogeny of the familes of Dicotyledons. Smithsonian Contr. Bot. 58 for dicots (314 pp.) and 71 for monocots (74 pp.). [Goldberg's illustrations are reproduced from older publications and these should be consulted], Gunn, C.R., J.H. Wiersema, C.A. Ritchie, and J.H. Kirkbride, Jr. 1992 and amendments. Families and genera of Spermatophytes recognized by the Agricultural Research Service. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1796:1–500, Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The plant-book, 706 p. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Martin, A.C. 1946. The comparative internal morphology of seeds. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 36:513–660, Spjut, R.W. 1994. A systematic treatment of fruit types. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 70:1–182, Wood, C.E., Jr. 1974. A student's atlas of flowering plants: Some dicotyledons of eastern North America, 120 pp. Harper and Row, New York.
Illustrations
Acceptable fruit and seed illustrations. Disseminule illustration(s): fruit, or seed, or embryo. Fruit illustration(s): LeMaout & Decaisne, Wood, Jr., Cronquist. Seed illustration(s): Swarbrick & Raymond (1970), Cronquist, Wood, Jr., LeMaout & Decaisne. Embryo illustration(s): Martin, Engler & Prantl, LeMaout & Decaisne.
• Seed. 1 of 2. Plantago asiatica L.: seeds. • Embryo. 2 of 2. Plantago lanceolata L.: embryo.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘J.H. Kirkbride, Jr., C.R. Gunn, and M.J. Dallwitz. 2000 onwards. Family guide for fruits and seeds: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 12th April 2021. delta-intkey.com’.
