Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Eurasia
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

A rosette-forming weed of lawns and roadsides, ribwort plantain produces tall, wiry scapes topped with compact brown flower spikes ringed by a halo of white stamens. Its narrow, deeply ribbed leaves are so tough that the parallel veins stay intact long after the blade has dried.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Plantago
Species: Plantago lanceolata