Plantago tweedyi

Plantago tweedyi, Tweedy's plantain, is a perennial herb in the plantain family. It is native to the western United States, from New Mexico and Arizona north to Montana.

Plantago tweedyi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Plantago
Species:
P. tweedyi
Binomial name
Plantago tweedyi

Taxonomy

Plantago tweedyi was described and published in 1886 by Asa Gray, who named it in honor of Frank Tweedy, the first to collect it.[1] Tweedy's specimen, the holotype, is deposited in Gray Herbarium at Harvard.[2]

In 1976, Plantago tweedyi was reclassified as P. eriopoda var. tweedyi by Bernard Boivin.[3] In the Flora of North America (2019), Shipunov recognizes it as a full species.[4]

Description

Plantago tweedyi is a perennial herb to 20 cm (7.9 in), from a stout taproot. Leaves are basal, lance-shaped, to 13 cm (5.1 in) long, glabrous (without hairs), and somewhat succulent or fleshy. Inflorescences are cylindrical brownish-to-greenish spikes to 10 cm (3.9 in) long, on scapes (stems) 5–20 cm (2.0–7.9 in) long. Flowers are tiny, to 2.5 mm (0.098 in), densely clustered in the spikes. Capsules are 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long.[5] [4]

Plantago tweedyi, tiny flowers densely clustered in spike

Distribution

Plantago tweedyi is native to the western United States, from northern New Mexico and northern Arizona north through Utah, Colorado and Wyoming to Idaho and Montana.[6] It grows in grasslands, sagebrush steppe, meadows, and on dry somewhat rocky hillsides at 1600–4000 m elevation.[5] [4]

History

Tweedy's Plantain was named by Asa Gray in honor of botanist Frank Tweedy, who made the first collection from grassy slopes along the East Fork of the Yellowstone River.[2] At the time, he was working as a topographer for the US Geological Survey in Yellowstone National Park.[7]

References
  1. A. Gray et al., Syn. Fl. N. Amer. ed. 2, 2(1): 390. 1886.
  2. Plantago Tweedyi holotype, Gray Herbarium
  3. Le Naturaliste Canadien 93(6): 1062. 1966[1967].
  4. "Plantago tweedyi" in Flora of North America
  5. Tweedy's plantain in Montana Field Guide
  6. Plantago tweedyi in USDA Plants Database
  7. Lesica, Peter; Krukeberg, Arthur (2017). "Frank Tweedy (1854–1937)". In Potter, Rachel; Lesica, Peter (eds.). Montana's Pioneer Botanists: Exploring the Mountains and Prairies. Montana Native Plant Society. ISBN 978-0-692-83690-3.

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