Plantago virginica L., Plantaginaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: bei mei che qian

English: hoary plantain, pale-seed plantain, paleseed Indianwheat, Virginia plantain

Habit:  herb

Description:  "This...plant is a winter annual. It consists of a small rosette of basal leaves, from which one or more flowering spikes develop. The basal leaves are up to 6" long and 3" across, although they are more typically about one-half this size. They can assume various shapes, including oblanceolate, obovate, and oval. The medium green leaves have 3-5 parallel veins, smooth and ciliate margins, and blunt tips; they taper gradually to winged petioles, which are often reddish. The upper surface of each leaf has white hairs, while the lower surface is woolly pubescent with longer white hairs along the veins. The flowering stalks are about 4-8" tall and unbranched. The upper two-thirds of each stalk consists of a cylindrical floral spike that is densely covered with small flowers and their bracts, while the lower one-third is naked (lacking bracts or cauline leaves). The naked portion of each stalk is terete, densely hairy, and often reddish toward the bottom. The flowers are unisexual, bisexual, or sterile. Each flower is about 1/8" long; it has a narrow corolla with 4 erect lobes and a calyx with 4 sepals. The chaffy corolla becomes tan or brown with maturity, while the sepals are green and hairy. The bracts of the flowers are green and hairy like the sepals, except they are even smaller in size. The flowers are wind-pollinated. Each fertile flower is replaced by an oblongoid seed capsule that splits open around the middle to release its seeds. The root system consists of a taproot"  (Illinois Wildflowers).

Habitat/ecology:  "Habitats include dry sand prairies, hill prairies, cliffs, rocky glades, barren slopes, gravelly areas along railroads and roadsides, sandy fields, and waste areas. This species is usually found in disturbed areas with scant vegetation"  (Illinois Wildflowers).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  United States and northern Mexico (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Japan (offshore islands) Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	introduced	Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Canada Canada	Canada (country)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced invasive	Li-ying, Li/Ren, Wang/Waterhouse, D. F. (1997) (p. 174)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 189)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Kato, Hidetoshi. 2007. Herbarium records of Makino Herbarium, Tokyo Metropolitan University. Personal communication.

Li-ying, Li/Ren, Wang/Waterhouse, D. F. 1997. The distribution and importance of arthropod pests and weeds of agriculture and forestry plantations in southern China. ACIAR, Canberra, Australia. 185 pp.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

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

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).