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Index / Search / Plantago major

§1 Plant

Plantago major L.

vernacular common plantain — species · Plantaginaceae

USDA
PLMA2
GBIF
3189767
Rank
species
common plantain (Plantago major)
Platephotograph · Reiner RichterCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Plantaginaceae Juss.
Genus
Plantago
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Introduced
  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • GL Greenland Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced
  • PR Puerto Rico Introduced
  • SPM St. Pierre & Miquelon Introduced
  • VI U.S. Virgin Islands Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 974 counties across 48 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 974 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
High
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
85 min.
Precipitation
16–60 in/yr
pH range
4.8–7.3
Root depth
4 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
0.3 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Moderate
Flower colour
Green
Fruit colour
Green
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Moderate
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
2,552,477
Propagation
seed, bare root
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 974 counties across 48 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 2 I ▾
Alaska view state ↗ 19 I ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 14 I ▾
California view state ↗ 41 I ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 22 I ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 2 I ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Florida view state ↗ 17 I ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 5 I ▾
Hawaii view state ↗ 4 I ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 22 I ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 30 I ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 11 I ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 9 I ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 21 I ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 31 I ▾
Maine view state ↗ 16 I ▾
Maryland view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 I ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 62 I ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 59 I ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 6 I ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 6 I ▾
Montana view state ↗ 36 I ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 24 I ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 12 I ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 I ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 18 I ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 15 I ▾
New York view state ↗ 42 I ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 10 I ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 45 I ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 47 I ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 32 I ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 55 I ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 4 I ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 3 I ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 15 I ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Texas view state ↗ 12 I ▾
Utah view state ↗ 23 I ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 11 I ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 24 I ▾
Washington view state ↗ 29 I ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 7 I ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 63 I ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 20 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/PLMA2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3189767 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z