Plantago gigas H. Léveillé; P. intermedia Gilibert; P. jehohlensis Koidzumi ["jepohlensis"]; P. macronipponica Yamamoto; P. major var. gigas (H. Léveillé) H. Léveillé; P. major subsp. intermedia (Gilibert) Lange; P. major var. jehohlensis (Koidzumi) S. H. Li; P. major var. kimurae Yamamoto; P. major var. paludosa Béguinot; P. major var. pauciflora (Gilibert) Béguinot; P. major subsp. pleiosperma Pilger; P. major var. sawadae Yamamoto; P. major var. sinuata (Lamarck) Decaisne; P. pauciflora Gilibert; P. sawadae (Yamamoto) Yamamoto; P. sinuata Lamarck; P. villifera Kitagawa (1935), not Franchet (1879).

Herbs, perennial. Roots numerous, fibrous. Leaves basal, pubescent to subglabrous; petiole 1-10(-26) cm; leaf blade broadly ovate to broadly elliptic, 3-18(-30) × 2-11(-21) cm, herbaceous to papery, veins (3 or)5 or 7, base cuneate, subrounded, or cordate, ± decurrent onto petiole, margin remotely dentate to subentire, apex acute to obtuse. Spikes narrowly cylindric to cylindric, 1-20(-40) cm, usually interrupted basally; peduncle 2-18(-45) cm, pubescent; bracts broadly ovate-triangular, 1.2-2 mm, glabrous or pubescent at apex, keel broad and thick. Flowers sessile. Sepals 1.5-2.5 mm, glabrous or ciliolate, keel not extending to apex, apex rounded; lower sepals elliptic to broadly elliptic; upper sepals broader. Corolla white, glabrous; lobes narrowly ovate, 1-1.5 mm, patent to reflexed. Stamens adnate only to near base of corolla tube, exserted; anthers purplish or white, ellipsoid, 1-1.2 mm. Pyxis subglobose, ovoid, or broadly ellipsoid, 2-3 mm, circumscissile at or just below middle, with (8-)12-24(-34) seeds. Seeds yellowish brown, ovoid, ellipsoid, or rhomboid, 0.8-1.2 mm, angled, ventral face prominent to slightly flat; cotyledons parallel to ventral side. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Jul-Sep. 2n = 12, 18, 24.

Plantago major is widely naturalized throughout much of the world.

Meadows, wet places, wastelands; near sea level to 2800 m. Anhui, Chongqing, Fujian, Gansu, Guangxi, Hainan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [India, Nepal, Pakistan; C, N, and SW Asia, Europe].