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iNaturalist — CC, credited & licensed per image
Pictured: Plantago elongata — the species. This subspecies isn’t separately illustrated.
Plantaginaceae family

Prairie Plantain (subsp. pentasperma) Plantago elongata subsp. pentasperma subspecies

Native

Prairie Plantain (subsp. pentasperma) is an annual wildflower native to Canada and the lower 48 states.

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 9 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Annual
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~66 caterpillar species

Plantago supports ~66 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a strong genus.

Recorded feeding on Plantago in North America, including:

Acronicta lanceolaria · Pointed Dagger Moth Agrochola purpurea · owlet moth Agrotis subterranea · owlet moth Amphipyra tragopoginis · Mouse Moth Anagrapha falcifera · Celery Looper Anicla infecta · Green Cutworm Moth
+ 8 more species →
Apantesis nais · Nais Tiger Moth Apantesis phalerata · Harnessed Tiger Moth Apantesis vittata · Banded Tiger Moth Arachnis picta · Painted Tiger Moth Arctia caja · Garden Tiger Autographa biloba · owlet moth Autographa bimaculata · Two-Spotted Looper Autographa precationis · Common Looper
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[07] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[08] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[10] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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