Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: weak plantain

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Short-lived perennial or annual herbs from a taproot.  Leaves basal, thin, narrowly oblanceolate to elliptic-oblanceolate or ovate, 3-15 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, 3-nerved, appressed pilose, margins remotely coarsely dentate to dentate, gradually or abruptly attenuate to a narrowly winged petiole 0.5-2 cm long.  Scapes (5-) 12-20 cm long, spikes (2-) 4-10 cm long, moderately appressed pilose, flowers not closely spaced, becoming widely spaced toward base, bracts ovate-elliptic, 1-1.5 mm long, pubescent toward base; sepals subequal, distinct, elliptic, scarious except for the green midrib, 1.5-2 (-3) mm long, more or less pubescent on midrib; corolla lobes reflexed, 0.8-1 mm long; ovary with 5 ovules.  Capsules ellipsoid, 2.4-3 mm long, dehiscent at or slightly below middle.  Seeds 1-5, yellow to dark brown, ca. 1 mm long, with a thin mucilaginous membrane" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1050-1051).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "sparingly naturalized in open, urban sites at 3 areas on O‘ahu" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1050-1051).  In Tonga, "uncommon in disturbed places" (Whistler, 1988; p. 33).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1050-1051).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 10) "Likely to have been introduced with fodder". Vouchers cited: P.S. Green 2431 (K), P.S. Green 1366 (A), J.D. McComish 140 (K), J.D. McComish 56 (K)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T. (2004) (p. 9) Voucher cited: W.R. Sykes 362/91 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1050-1051) Sparingly naturalized.
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 115) Vouchers cited: Cribs 577, Däniker 404 (Z)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	‘Eua Island		Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 56) Voucher cited: Parks 16242
Tonga Tongatapu Group	Tongatapu Island		Whistler, W. A. (1992) (p. 56) Voucher cited: Setchell & Parks 15507

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	native	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1050-1051)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 947) "Occasional in poor, dry pastures and roadsides".

Additional information:
Additional online information about Plantago debilis is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Plantago debilis as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Plantago debilis may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Herbst, Derral R./Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T. 2004. New Hawaiian plant records for 2002-2003. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2003. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 78:3-12.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1988. Checklist of the weed flora of western Polynesia. Technical Paper No. 194, South Pacific Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia. 69 pp.

Whistler, W. A. 1992. Flora of Tonga [unpublished checklist]. 107 pp.