Plantain Family – Plantaginaceae
The Plantain family consists of 94 genera and about 1,900 species. A very diverse group with flowers that are tubular (foxglove, penstemon), two-lipped (antirrhinum and toadflax) or open (veronica, plantain and hebe). The family was named after the Plantago genus (Plantains) which is Latin for ‘sole of foot’ indicating that the leaves grow level with the ground. Basic Flower Parts – 4 or 5 Sepals, 4 or 5 Petals, 2 or 4 Stamens, 1 style
This is one of the Eudicot (Eudicotyledons) families. Eudicots germinate with two seed leaves, can form wood or be herbaceous and have net-like leaf veins. Monocots (Monocotyledons) germinate with one cotyledon (the first ‘seed leaf’ produced by the embryo, which may appear above ground or remain below), can’t form wood and have parallel leaf venation.
Monocots comprise 25% of all Angiosperm species (74,000) and Eudicots comprise 70% of all Angiosperm species ( 210,000). To learn more about flowering plant families click HERE
Tubular flower – Penstemon ‘Sour Grapes’
2-lipped flower – Snapdragon Antirrhinum majus
Open flower – Germander Speedwell Veronica chamaedrys is a native wild flower very common in Britain in grasslands, woods and hedge banks. It is also found though Europe to western Asia.
Hoary Plantain Plantago media has the typical low growing leaves of the Plantains.
The Common Toadflax Linaria vulgaris is a wild flower native to Britain. The flower is similar to the Snapdragon in that it is 2-lipped
Hebe ‘Pink Pixie’. Hebe is a genus of 90 species native to New Zealand. They are popular as evergreen garden shrubs in Britain.