Shade plantain

Description

Plantago debilis is a species of herb native to Australia. Common names include shade plantain and weak plantain. It grows as an annual or perennial herb up to 20 centimetres high, with green or white flowers and a slender taproot. This species was first published by Robert Brown in his 1810 Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae. In 1937 Robert Pilger transferred it to P. debilis, thus implicitly publishing the autonym P. debilis var. debilis. The specific epithet, debilis, is a Latin adjective, L. debilis,-is,-e, meaning "weak", "feeble", "frail". It is native to Australia, occurring in every state and territory. It favours moist sandy soils. The Noongar people of south west Western Australia heated and crushed the leaves to give a liquid that was used to make poultices for sprains, ulcers, and boils. Plantago is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a few are subshrubs growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall. The leaves are sessile or have a poorly-defined petiole. They have three or five parallel veins that diverge in the wider part of the leaf. Leaves are broad or narrow, depending on the species. The inflorescences are borne on stalks typically 5–40 cm (2.0–15.7 in) tall, and can be a short cone or a long spike, with numerous tiny wind-pollinated flowers. They are found all over the world, including the Americas, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Europe. Many species in the genus are cosmopolitan weeds. They are found in many different habitats, most commonly in wet areas like seepages or bogs. They can also be found in alpine and semi-alpine or coastal areas. The cosmopolitan weeds can be frequently seen at the side of roads. The boundaries of the genus Plantago have been fairly stable, with the main question being whether to include Bougueria (one species from the Andes) and Littorella (2–3 species of aquatic plants).