black-seeded plantain

(Plantago rugelii var. rugelii)

Conservation Status
black-seeded plantain
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACU - Facultative upland

     
  Midwest

FAC - Facultative

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FAC - Facultative

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Black-seeded plantain is a 3 to 12 tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on a rosette of leaves and 1 or more flowering stalks (scapes) from fibrous roots.

The leaves are all basal and form a rosette. They are broadly elliptic to broadly egg-shaped, 1½ to 7 long, and to 4 wide, 1.3 to usually 2 times as long as wide. They have 3 or more prominent veins that separate at the base and are parallel to the margins. They are abruptly contracted at the base to the leaf stalk. The leaf stalk is hairless and reddish, at least at the base. The margins are untoothed or irregularly toothed.

The scapes are leafless and 2 to 10 tall.

The inflorescence is an unbranched, cylindrical spike of tiny green flowers at the end of the scape. The spikes narrow, tapering, hairless, 2 to 11¾ tall, and less than wide.

The flowers are 1 16 to long. There are 4 green to white petals, 4 sepals, and 4 stamens. They are subtended by 1 16 to long, keeled, lance-shaped to triangular, leaf-like bracts. Pollination is by wind.

The fruit is a capsule containing 4 to 10 seeds.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

3 to 12

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

Green to white

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
  Common plantain (Plantago major) leaf stalks are entirely green, never reddish, even at the base. The bracts are egg-shaped.  
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Disturbed sites, gardens, lawns.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

June to August

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 28, 29, 30.

 
  2/20/2023      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

 

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Asteranae  
 

Order

Lamiales (mints, plantains, olives, and allies)  
 

Family

Plantaginaceae (plantain)  
  Tribe Plantagineae  
  Genus Plantago (plantains)  
  Subgenus Plantago  
  Species Plantago rugelii (American plantain)  
       
 

Synonyms

 
     
       
 

Common Names

 
 

American plantain

black-seed plantain

black-seeded plantain

blackseed plantain

Rugel’s plantain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Bract

Modified leaf at the base of a flower stalk, flower cluster, or inflorescence.

 

Keeled

Folded, as in a grass blade, or with a raised ridge, as in a grass sheath; like the keel of a boat.

 

Scape

An erect, leafless stalk growing from the rootstock and supporting a flower or a flower cluster.

 

Sepal

An outer floral leaf, usually green but sometimes colored, at the base of a flower.

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

Share your photo of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.
 
 

 

 
 

 

 
           
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Plant

 
    black-seeded plantain   black-seeded plantain  
           
 

Reddish Leaf Stalks

 
    black-seeded plantain      

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
  Plantago rugelii RED-STALKED PLANTAIN
Frank Mayfield
 
  Plantago rugelii RED-STALKED PLANTAIN  

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

Share your video of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.
 
 

 

 
     
     
       
       
 
Other Videos
 
     
     
     

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this plant.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
   

 

   
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

Afton State Park

Agassiz Dunes SNA

Avon Hills Forest SNA, North Unit

Badoura Jack Pine Woodland SNA

Baker Park Reserve

Banning State Park

Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park

Big Stone Lake State Park

Big Woods Heritage Forest WMA

Blaine Preserve SNA

Blue Devil Valley SNA

Blue Mounds State Park

Boot Lake SNA

Brownsville Bluff SNA

Buffalo River State Park

Bunker Hills Regional Park

Bur Oak WMA

Cambria WMA

Camden State Park

Cannon River Wilderness Area

Carley State Park

Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center

Carver Highlands WMA, South Unit

Carver Park Reserve

Cedar Mountain SNA

Cedar Rock SNA

Chamberlain Woods SNA

Charles A. Lindbergh State Park

Cherry Grove Blind Valley SNA

Chimney Rock SNA

Clear Lake SNA

Clifton E. French Regional Park

Cottonwood River Prairie SNA

Crosby Farm Regional Park

Crow-Hassan Park Reserve

Crystal Spring SNA

Des Moines River SNA

Dodge Nature Center

Edward Velishek Memorial WMA

Elm Creek Park Reserve

Falls Creek SNA

Felton Prairie SNA, Bicentennial Unit

Flandrau State Park

Forestville/Mystery Cave State Park

Fort Ridgely State Park

Franconia Bluffs SNA

Frontenac State Park

Glacial Lakes State Park

Glendalough State Park

Glynn Prairie SNA

Gneiss Outcrops SNA

Great River Bluffs State Park

Greenleaf Lake SRA

Grey Cloud Dunes SNA

Hampton Woods WMA

Hastings Sand Coulee SNA

Hastings SNA

Hayes Lake State Park

Hemlock Ravine SNA

Hole-in-the-Mountain Prairie

Holthe Prairie SNA

Hyland Lake Park Reserve

Iron Horse Prairie SNA

Itasca State Park

Itasca Wilderness Sanctuary SNA

Jay Cooke State Park

Jensen Memorial WMA

John A. Latsch State Park

John Murtaugh Memorial WMA

John Peter Hoffman Spring Brook Valley WMA

Joseph A. Tauer Prairie SNA

Kasota Prairie

Kasota Prairie SNA

Keller Regional Park

Kilen Woods State Park

King’s and Queen’s Bluff SNA

Laible Woods

Lake Bemidji State Park

Lake Byllesby Regional Park

Lake Carlos State Park

Lake Elmo Park Reserve

Lake Louise State Park

Lake Maria State Park

Lake Rebecca Park Reserve

Lebanon Hills Regional Park

Leif Mountain

Lester Lake SNA

Lost Valley Prairie SNA

Maplewood State Park

Margherita Preserve-Audubon Prairie

McCarthy Beach State Park

McKnight Prairie

Miesville Ravine Park Reserve

Mille Lacs Kathio State Park

Mille Lacs Moraine SNA

Mille Lacs WMA

Minneopa State Park

Minnesota Valley NWR, Chaska Unit

Minnesota Valley NWR, Rapids Lake Unit

Minnesota Valley NWR, Wilkie Unit

Minnesota Valley State Recreation Area, Lawrence Unit

Mississippi River County Park

Morton Outcrops SNA

Mound Prairie SNA

Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve

Myre-Big Island State Park

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

Ney Nature Center

Old Mill State Park

Ordway Prairie

Oronoco Prairie SNA

Osmundson Prairie SNA

Oxbow Park & Zollman Zoo

Partch Woods SNA

Paul Bunyan Savanna

Phelps Lake WMA

Pilot Knob

Pin Oak Prairie SNA

Pine Bend Bluffs SNA

Potato Lake SNA

Prairie Coteau SNA

Prairie Creek Woods SNA

Prairie Creek WMA, Koester Prairie Unit

Prairie Smoke Dunes SNA

Quarry Park SNA

Rice Lake State Park

Ritter Farm Park

River Terrace Prairie SNA

River Warren Outcrops SNA

Robert Ney Memorial Park Reserve

Rock Ridge Prairie SNA

Rockville County Park

Roscoe Prairie SNA

Rushford Sand Barrens SNA

St. Croix Savanna SNA

St. Croix State Park

Sakatah Lake State Park

Sand Prairie Wildlife Management and Environmental Education Area

Savage Fen SNA

Savanna Portage State Park

Seminary Fen SNA

Seven Mile Creek County Park

Seven Springs WMA

Sheepberry Fen

Shooting Star Prairie SNA

Sibley State Park

Spring Creek Prairie SNA

Spring Lake Park Reserve

Spring Lake Regional Park

Spring Prairie Preserve

Stanley Eddy Memorial Park Reserve

Sunfish Lake Park

Swedes Forest SNA

Thompson County Park

Tiedemann WMA

Twin Lakes SNA

Twin Valley WMA: North Unit

Uncas Dunes SNA

Upper Sioux Agency State Park

Valley View Park

Vermillion Highlands Research Recreation and WMA

Vermillion River WMA

Whitetail Woods Regional Park

Whitewater State Park

Wild Indigo SNA

Wild River State Park

William O’Brien State Park

Wood-Rill SNA

Woodland Trails Park

Zumbro Falls Woods SNA

 

 

 

Binoculars


Last Updated:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | © MinnesotaSeasons.com.com. All rights reserved.