Taxonomy
Family: Plantaginaceae
Habitat
Meadows and moist to dry woods.
Associates
Distribution
ME to MI and IL, south to GA, MS, and AR.
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial to 1.2 m; stem glabrous to hirsutulous or minutely puberulent, often in narrow strips, the hairs to 0.5 mm, often more or less reflexed; leaves lanceolate or lance-ovate to narrowly oblong, 2-5 cm wide, glabrous, or rarely minutely hairy along the midvein beneath, often obscurely serrate; calyx lobes lanceolate to narrow-ovate, 3-6 mm long at anthesis; corolla violet-purple varying to rather pale outside, pale or white inside, 1.5-2(-2.2) cm long, the throat abruptly dilated above the middle; anthers glabrous.
Notes
Flowers April to June.
Wetland indicator: FACU
Another species, P. calycosus, is sometimes lumped with this species. It has a larger corolla (2-3.5 cm long) and more slender calyx lobes 5-12 mm long. It also usually has more finely serrate leaf blades.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Michael Hough © 2018 |