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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE PLANTAIN FAMILY | |||||||||
| The plantain family is widely distributed in temperate regions, especially in saline or dry areas. These plants are annual or perennial herbs. The leaves are frequently in basal rosettes, though they may also be alternate on short stems. The leaves have parallel veins and are often prominently ribbed. The flowers are usually in long spike-like clusters, though occasionally they may be in head-like clusters. The flowers are whitish or greenish and are generally membranous in texture. The petals are fused into a slender tube and have flattened limbs at the top. Each flower may have two or four stamens and a superior ovary. The fruit is a capsule that opens like from the top like a lid. | |||||||||
| GOOSE TONGUE | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Plantago maritima var. juncoides | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Goose tongue grows as tall as 20 cm from a taproot. The stem is leafless, ends in the inflorescence, and is generally longer than the leaves. The leaves are all basal and pointing upwards. The leaves are up to 20 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. They are linear or thread-like in shaped and are almost 3-angled in cross section. The inflorescences are spikes ranging from 2 to 10 cm long with hairy bracts below the flowers. The sepals and the petals are hairy. Each flower has four stamens. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Goose tongue grows in salt springs and wet saline marshes. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in east-central Saskatchewan in the Mid-Boreal Lowland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Goose tongue is endangered in Saskatchewan because it is extremely rare. It is restricted to one region of the province but is usually locally numerous. No immediate threats are known for this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY GOOSE TONGUE | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves linear? * Is the corolla tube hairy? * Are the flowers greenish to whitish? * Did you find in east-central Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found goose tongue! | |||||||||
