• ChesReport (current)
  • Marine Invasions Lab
  • Partner Portals
    Nemesis California Panama Galapagos Cocos Island NP JTMD
    Archived Projects
    Chesapeake
  • Browse Species
    Taxonomic Groups All Species
  • News
  • login
You are viewing an archived site. The Chesapeake Bay Introduced Species Database project ended in 2020 and the database is no longer receiving updates. Learn more…
Image of Plantago major

Plantago major

Plants

Common Plantain

Image Credit: Paul Fofonoff

Taxonomy Invasion History Ecology Impacts References

Description


Taxonomy

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus
Plantae Magnoliophyta Magnoliopsida Plantaginales Plantaginaceae Plantago

Synonyms

Plantago major var. scrupulorom; Plantago major ssp. intermedia; Plantago major var. asiatica; Plantago major var. intermedia; Plantago major var. pachyphylla; Plantago major var. pilgeri; Plantago asiatica; Plantago major var. asiatica Plantago halophila

Invasion History

Chesapeake Bay Status

First Record Population Range Introduction Residency Source Region Native Region Vectors
1739 Established Stable Introduced Boundary Resident Europe Eurasia Shipping(Dry Ballast), Agriculture(Agricultural Weed)

History of Spread

Plantago major (Common Plantain; English Plantain) is a definite introduction according to most authors (e.g. Fernald 1950; Gleason and Cronquist 1991). However, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (2000) database treats it as native, probably because of populations occurring in isolated regions of northern North America.. Hawthorn (1974) cites palynological data supporting introduced status. Fernald (1950) lists a native variety, P. m. var. scopulorum, which inhabits 'brackish or saline shores', but common-garden experiments (planting different varieties under identical conditions) suggest that this is an ecotype (Hawthorn 1974). Plantago major was collected by John Clayton in VA before 1739 (Gronovius 1739; Reveal 1983). It rapidly became widespread across North America, and has also been introduced to every major landmass where European agriculture has been introduced. (Hawthorn 1974; Sagar and Harper 1964).

In Chesapeake Bay, P. major was collected in early surveys from Baltimore and Washington (Aikin 1837; Brereton 1830), and is now widespread in the watershed. Records from tidal wetlands include:

Upper Bay- Plantago major was collected at Herald Harbor and Porter Point, MD, on the Severn River in 'salt marshes' (Stieber 1967); It is common in Shady Side MD, beside Cedarhurst Harbor and in disturbed marshes (Fofonoff, personal observations).

James River- Plantago major was collected from tidal wetlands at Charles City County, VA, on the James River (Atkinson et al. 1990).

History References- Aikin 1837; Atkinson et al. 1990; Biota of North America Program 2000; Brereton 1830; Fernald 1950; Gleason and Cronquist 1991; Gronovius 1739; Hawthorn 1974; Natural Resources Conservation Service 2000; Reveal 1983; Sagar and Harper 1964; Stieber 1967

Invasion Comments

Ecology

Environmental Tolerances

For SurvivalFor Reproduction
Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum
Temperature (ºC)
Salinity (‰) 0.0 0.0
Oxygen
pH
Salinity Range fresh-meso

Age and Growth

Male Female
Minimum Adult Size (mm)
Typical Adult Size (mm)
Maximum Adult Size (mm)
Maximum Longevity (yrs)
Typical Longevity (yrs

Reproduction

Start Peak End
Reproductive Season
Typical Number of Young
Per Reproductive Event
Sexuality Mode(s)
Mode(s) of Asexual
Reproduction
Fertilization Type(s)
More than One Reproduction
Event per Year
Reproductive Startegy
Egg/Seed Form

Impacts

Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay

Plantago major (Common Plantain) is a widespread weed of lawns, farm fields, roadsides, and other disturbed upland areas in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (Brown and Brown 1984; Shreve et al. 1910), but it appears to be only an occasional colonist of tidal wetlands, with no reported economic impacts on native biota in the Bay proper.

References- Brown and Brown 1984; Shreve et al. 1910


Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay

Plantago major (Common Plantain) is a widespread weed of lawns, farm fields, roadsides, and other disturbed upland areas, now found on all continents and New Zealand (Hawthorn 1974; Sagar and Harper 1964). However, it appears to be only an occasional colonist of tidal wetlands, with no reported economic impacts in estuarine habitats.

References- Hawthorn 1974; Sagar and Harper 1964


Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species

Plantago major (Common Plantain) is a widespread weed of highly disturbed upland areas in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (Brown and Brown 1984), but it appears to be only an occasional colonist of tidal wetlands, with no reported ecological impacts on native biota in the Bay proper.

References- Brown and Brown 1984


Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species

Plantago major (Common Plantain) is a widespread weed of highly disturbed upland areas in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (Brown and Brown 1984), but it appears to be only an occasional colonist of tidal wetlands, with no reported ecological impacts on exotic biota in the Bay proper.

References- Brown and Brown 1984


References

Aikin, W. E. A. (1837) Catalogue of phenogamous plants and ferns, native or naturalized, growing in the vicinity of Baltimore, Maryland., Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and Literature 1: 55-91

Atkinson, Robert B.; Bodkin, Norlyn L.; Perry, James E. (1990) New county records collected in tidal wetlands of four coastal plain counties along the James River, Virginia, Castanea 55: 56-64

2001 Invasive Species database search. http://invasivespecies.org/BONAP/namesearch.cfm

Brereton, J. A. (1830) Prodromus of the Flora Columbiana, , Washington, D.C.. Pp.

Brown, Melvin L.; Brown, Russell G. (1984) Herbaceous Plants of Maryland, , College Park. Pp.

Cohen, Andrew N.; Carlton, James T. (1995) Nonindigenous aquatic species in a United States estuary: a case study of the biological invasions of the San Francisco Bay and Delta, , Washington DC, Silver Spring MD.. Pp.

Fernald, Merritt L. (1950) Gray's Manual of Botany, In: (Eds.) . , New York. Pp.

Gleason, Henry A.; Cronquist, Arthur (1991) Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, In: (Eds.) . , Bronx, New York. Pp.

Gronovius, Johannes Fredericius (1739) Flora Virginica exhibens plantas quas V. C. Johannes Clayton in Virginia observavit atque collegit., , London. Pp.

Harvill, A. M.; Bradley, Ted R.; Stevens, Charles E.; Wieboldt, Thomas F.; Ware, Donna M. E.; Ogle, Douglas W.; Ramsey, Gwynn W.; Fleming, Gary P. (1992) Atlas of the Virginia Flora, , Burkeville, VA. Pp.

Hawthorn, Wayne R. (1974) Biology of Canadian weeds. 4. Plantago major and P. rugelii, Canadian Journal of Plant Science 54: 383-396

1997-2024 USDA PLANTS Database.. Onine databse

Reveal, James L. (1983) Significance of pre-1753 botanical explorations in temperate North America on Linnaeus' first edition of Species Plantarum, Phytologia 53: 1-96

Sagar, G. R.; Harper, J. L. (1964) Biological Flora of the British Isles, Plantago major L., P. media L., and P. lanceolata L., Ecology 52: 189-221

Shreve, Forrest M.; Chrysler, M. A.; Blodgett, Frederck H.; Besley, F. W. (1910) The Plant Life of Maryland, , Baltmore. Pp.

Stieber, Michael T. (1967) An annotated checklist of the vascular flora of Anne Arundel County Maryland, , Washington, D.C.. Pp.


Direct questions and comments to chesnemo@si.edu.

©