芒苞车前 mang bao che qian

Plantago aristata var. minuta T. K. Zheng & X. S. Wan ["munuta"].

Herbs, annual or winter annual. Taproot tenuous. Stem 1-4 cm, erect, obscured by leaf sheaths. Leaves spirally alternate, densely villous to glabrate; petiole, inconspicuous; leaf blade elliptic-linear to linear, 4-20 × 0.1-0.9 cm, papery, veins 3, base attenuate and decurrent onto petiole, margin entire, apex acuminate. Spikes narrowly cylindric, (0.5-)3-10 cm, densely flowered; peduncle 10-20 cm, densely appressed villous; bracts narrowly ovate, basalmost 0.8-4 cm but reduced apically, erect to spreading, densely villous, apex with linear to subulate aris-ta. Sepals 2-3 mm, keel and apex densely pilose; lower sepals narrowly obovate, keel broad, thick, and not extending to apex; upper sepals ovate, keel narrow and extending to apex. Corolla yellowish, glabrous; lobes broadly ovate, 2-2.5 mm, patent to reflexed, base nearly auriculate. Stamens adnate to near apex of corolla tube; anthers yellowish, ovoid, ca. 0.4 mm, included to slightly exserted. Pyxis ellipsoid to ovoid, 2.5-3 mm, circumscissile just below middle, with 2 seeds. Seeds brown, ellipsoid to oblong, (1.9-)2.3-2.7 mm, with a broad groove on ventral face; cotyledons vertical to ventral side. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jun-Jul. 2n = 20.

Naturalized in seaside sandy areas, wastelands, and roadsides; near sea level. Jiangsu (Suqian), Shandong (Qingdao) [native to North America; naturalized in E Asia and Europe].

Plantago aristata was first collected in China in Qingdao Shi in 1929.