Flora Medica

PLANTAGINACE^E.Nat. syst.ed. 2. p. 267.PLANTAGO.Flowers spiked or capitate. Calyx. 4-leaved. Corolla hypocrateriform,membranous, with a 4-parted spreading limb. Stamens4, long and flaccid. Style simple ; stigma unilateral. Capsulecut round spuriously, 2-celled, few or many-seeded.967. P. Ispaghula Fleming in As. research, xi. 174. Roxb.fl. ind. i. 404. Cultivated in India ; probably a native of Persia.Royk.An annual plant. Stem, if any, very short, soon dividing into 3 or 4ascending, round, villous branches, which are a few inches in length.Leaves alternate, linear-lanceolate, 3-nerved, luxuriant in young plants,remotely denticulate, somewhat woolly, towards the base channelled,and amplexicaul, 6 to 8 inches long, by a or an inch broad.Peduncles axillary, solitary, naked, erect, round, a little villous, thelength of the leaves. Spikes solitary, terminal, before the flowersexpand ovate, afterwards cylindrical, when in seed about 1 inch or liinch long and erect. Flowers numerous, imbricated, small, dull, white,withering. Bractes 1-flowered, ovate, concave, with the keel green,and the sides membranaceous. Calyx 4-leaved ; sepals oblong, ovate,with broad membranaceous margins. Corolla with a gibbous tube, andovate, acute segments. Roxb. A mucilaginous drink is prepared fromthe seeds in India, and often prescribed by European practitioners inIndia, when emollients are wanted. It also forms part of the nativeMateria medica.968. P. Psyllium Linn. sp. 167. Willd. i. 650. R. and S.iii. 145. Southern parts of Europe and Barbary.An annual. Stems diffuse, villous, much branched. Leaves linear,narrow, ciliated, almost smooth, acute, recurved, very little toothed jthe upper often in whorls of 3 or 4. Peduncles slender, filiform,downy, at least as long as the leaves. Spikes small, short, capitate,almost smooth, not leafy, bracteate ;the two lower bracts almost thelength of the spikes, downy, the other shorter and more dilated. Theseeds are peculiarly mucilaginous, and have been made into demulcentdrinks as a good substitute for linseed or marsh mallows. The twofollowing have been employed for the same purpose.969. P. arenaria W. and K.970. P. Cynops L.971. The common perennial Ribgrass P. lanceolata L. hasrather bitter astringent leaves and roots, and has been used withsome other species as an expectorant and vulnerary, but theproperties do not appear to be of any importance.473