Plantaginaceae

Taxobox
name = Plantain family

---

image_width = 225px
image_caption = "Plantago major"
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Lamiales
familia = Plantaginaceae
familia_authority = Juss.
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = See text.

The Plantaginaceae Juss. or plantain family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales. The type genus is "Plantago" L..

In older classifications it used to be the only family of the order Plantaginales, but numerous phylogenetic studies, summarized by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, have demonstrated that this taxon should be included within the Lamiales.

The plantain family as traditionally circumscribed consisted of only three genera, "Bougueria", "Littorella", and "Plantago". However, new phylogenetic research has indicated that Plantaginaceae s.s. (s.s. = "sensu stricto", in the strict sense) is nested within several genera previously included in Scrophulariaceae (but not including the type genus, "Scrophularia"). Although Veronicaceae (1782) is the oldest family name for this group, Plantaginaceae (1789) is a conserved name under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) and thus has priority over any earlier family name within the circumscription of any group containing Plantaginaceae. Furthermore, the ICBN does not consider family names published before 1789 to be names eligible for conservation, thus ruling out Veronicaceae. The name Antirrhinaceae has been proposed for conservation over Plantaginaceae. In the meantime, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has accepted the name Plantaginaceae. However, Olmstead (2003) has chosen to use the name Veronicaceae.

The Plantaginaceae s.l. (s.l. = "sensu lato," in the broad sense) is a most diverse, cosmopolitan family, occurring mostly in temperate zones. It consists of herbs, shrubs and also a few aquatic plants with roots (such as the genus "Callitriche"). Being so diverse, the circumscription of this family is difficult to establish.

The leaves are spiral to opposite and simple to compound. Unusual in Lamiales is the absence of vertical partitions in the heads of the glandular hairs.

The structure and form of the flowers can be very variable. Some genera are 4-merous (i.e. with 4 sepals and 4 petals), such as "Aragoa" (but this one has 5 sepals); others are 5-8-merous, such as "Sibthorpia". The flowers of most genera are polysymmetric. The corolla is often two-lipped. In some taxa, the androecium is formed before the corolla.

The fruit is a capsule that dehisces through the partitions between the cells. In "Veronica" this partition is in the length; in species of Antirrhineae the dehiscence releases the pollen through the pores at the tip of the anther; or it may come about through a transverse circular line around the capsule.

A group of genera including "Lindernia" has recently been segregated Oxelman B., Kornhall, P., Olmstead, R. G. & Bremer, B. (2005). "Further disintegration of Scrophulariaceae". "Taxon" 54(2):411–425.] as the family Linderniaceae [Rahmanzadeh, R., K. Müller, E. Fischer, D. Bartels & T. Borsch. 2005. The Linderniaceae and Gratiolaceae are further lineages distinct from the Scrophulariaceae (Lamiales). Pl. Biol. ( Stuttgart) 7: 67-78.] , and recognized by Haston "et al" 2007, (also known as LAPG II) as "Post-APG II family". [cite journal| last =Haston, E.| first = Richardson, J. E., Stevens, P. F., Chase, M. W., Harris, D. J. | title = A linear sequence of Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II families| journal = Taxon| volume = 56| issue = 1| year = 2007| pages = 7–12| doi = ]

Genera

The enlarged Plantaginaceae s.l. / Veronicaceae consists of 90 genera and about 1,700 species. The largest genus is "Veronica" with about 450 species. "Veronica" also includes the genera "Hebe", "Parahebe" and "Synthyris", formerly often treated as distinct. All genera of Plantaginaceae were formerly included in Scrophulariaceae except where otherwise stated.

* "Acanthorrhinum"
* "Achetaria"
* "Adenosma"
* "Albraunia"
* "Amphianthus"
* "Anarrhinum"
* "Angelonia"
* "Antirrhinum" - Snapdragon
* "Aragoa"
* "Artanema" also placed in Linderniaceae GRIN cite web|url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/gnlist.pl?2234|title= Germplasm Resources Information Network|publisher= Agricultural Research Service|accessdate=2007-08-14]
* "Asarina"
* "Bacopa" - Water Hyssop
* "Basistemon"
* "Benjaminia"
* "Besseya" (now included in "Veronica")
* "Bougueria" (sometimes included in "Plantago"Albach, D. C., Meudt, H. M. & Oxelman, B. 2005. [http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/92/2/297 Piecing together the "new" Plantaginaceae] . "American Journal of Botany" 92: 297–315.] )
* "Brookea"
* "Bryodes"
* "Bythophyton"
* "Callitriche" - Water Starwort (formerly in Callitrichaceae)
* "Campylanthus"
* "Chaenorhinum"
* "Chelone"
* "Chionohebe" (now included in "Veronica")
* "Chionophila"
* "Cochlidiosperma" (now included in "Veronica")
* "Collinsia"
* "Conobea" (now included in "Picria") also placed in Linderniaceae
* "Cymbalaria"
* "Detzneria" (now included in "Veronica")
* "Digitalis" - Foxglove
* "Dintera"
* "Dizygostemon"
* "Dopatrium"
* "Ellisiophyllum"
* "Encopella"
* "Epixiphium"
* "Erinus"
* "Galvezia"
* "Gambelia"
* "Geochorda"
* "Globularia" (formerly belonging to Globulariaceae)
* "Gratiola" - Hedge Hyssop
* "Hebe" (now included in "Veronica")
* "Hemiphragma"
* "Herpestis"
* "Hippuris" - Mare’s-tale (formerly in Hippuridaceae)
* "Holmgrenanthe"
* "Holzneria"
* "Howelliella"
* "Hydrotriche"
* "Isoplexis" (now included in "Digitalis")
* "Kashmiria"
* "Keckiella"
* "Kickxia" - Fluellen
* "Lafuentea"
* "Lagotis"
* "Limnophila"
* "Limosella" - Mudwort => Scrophulariaceae according Oxelman "et al." 2005
* "Linaria" - Toadflax
* "Littorella" (often included in "Plantago")
* "Lophospermum"
* "Mabrya"
* "Maurandella"
* "Maurandya"
* "Mecardonia"
* "Melosperma"
* "Microcarpaea"
* "Misopates"
* "Mohavea"
* "Monocardia"
* "Monopera"
* "Monttea"
* "Neogaerrhinum"
* "Nothochelone"
* "Nuttallanthus"
* "Otacanthus"
* "Ourisia"
* "Paederota"
* "Parahebe" (now included in "Veronica")
* "Penstemon" - Beardtongue
* "Philcoxia"
* "Picria" also placed in Linderniaceae
* "Picrorhiza" (including "Neopicrorhiza")
* "Plantago"
* "Poskea" (formerly belonging to Globulariaceae)
* "Psammetes"
* "Pseudorontium"
* "Rhodochiton"
* "Russelia"
* "Sairocarpus"
* "Schistophragma"
* "Schweinfurthia"
* "Scoparia"
* "Scrofella"
* "Sibthorpia"
* "Stemodia"
* "Synthyris" - Kittentails (now included in "Veronica")
* "Tetranema"
* "Tetraulacium"
* "Tonella"
* "Uroskinnera"
* "Veronica" - Speedwell, Brooklime
* "Veronicastrum"
* "Wulfenia"
* "Wulfeniopsis"

References

*
* Olmstead, R. G. 2003. Whatever happened to the Scrophulariaceae? "Fremontia" 30: 13-22 (available online [http://courses.washington.edu/bot113/Spring/WebReadings/PdfReadings/Scrophulariaceae.pdf here] ).

External links

* [http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/welcome.html Treatment of Plantaginaceae in MOBOT]