Plantaginaceae

3 gen., cosmop., particularly the Mediterranean and the Andes

Plantago L.

33 species in Aust.; all states and territories

Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves usually all basal (cauline in P scabra); main veins parallel. Inflorescence a spike on a leafless scape. Flowers small, numerous, each subtended by a bract, regular, bisexual, protogynous, wind pollinated. Sepals 4. Corolla tubular, 4-lobed, green white or purplish. Stamens 4, epipetalous. Ovary superior, 2-locular or 4-locular by a false-septum. Fruit a circumscissile capsule enclosed in the withered corolla.