Plantago rugelii is an edible species of flowering plant in the plantain family, Plantaginaceae. It is native to North America, where it occurs in eastern Canada and the central and eastern United States. Its common names include American plantain, blackseed plantain, and pale plantain.
Description
This perennial herb grows from a
taproot and fibrous root system. Extract from the roots of this plant have been shown to inhibit the hatching of nematodes.
It produces a basal rosette of wide oval leaves with longitudinal veining and a somewhat waxy texture. The base of the petiole may be reddish or purple. A scape bears clusters of whitish flowers. The fruit is a capsule about half a centimeter long containing several seeds. It splits down the middle.
Plantago major is very similar, but it lacks the red tinge on the petioles and its leaves are darker and waxier.
Taxonomy
Plantago rugelii was named and described by the French botanist
Joseph Decaisne in 1852. Its
holotype is archived in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris. The specific epithet
rugelii honors Ferdinand Rugel, the botanist who collected an
Holotype of
Plantago rugelii in Decatur, Alabama in 1843. The species is commonly known as
Rugel's plantain.
Habitat
Plantago rugelii is commonly found in areas such as meadows, woodland borders, and stream banks, as well as in lawns and gardens and near paved areas.
