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infestation (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
broad leaves with slightly toothed or lobed margins (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
leaves are borne on distinct stalks and have five or seven prominent lengthwise veins (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
flowers and immature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of immature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of mature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of seeds (Photo: Steve Hurst at USDA PLANTS Database)
seedling (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
Scientific Name
Plantago major L.
Family
Plantaginaceae
Common Names
broad leaved plantain, broadleaf plantain, broad-leaved plantain, common plantain, dooryard plantain, Englishman's foot, grand plantain, great plantain, greater plantain, large plantain, plantain, rat-tail ribwort, ratstail plantain, ribgrass, ribwort, ribwort plantain, ripple grass, round-leaved plantain, snake weed, waybread, wild sago
Origin
Europe and northern and central Asia, now found throughout most of the world (i.e. cosmopolitan).
Naturalised Distribution
Widely naturalised in southern and eastern Australia (i.e. in south-eastern Queensland, eastern New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, south-eastern South Australia and south-western Western Australia). Also naturalised in northern Queensland, and on Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Christmas Island.
Notes
Greater plantain (Plantago major) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia.