Plantago afra L.

Spice In the field

Family: PLANTAGINACEAE

Genus: Plantago

Catalan common name: Herba de les puces. Herba pucera. Llavor de puça. Seragatona.

Spanish common name: Zaragatona.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Formentera. Cabrera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Terophyte.

Habitats: Cultivated fields, path and road sides, disturbed zones. Therophytic calicole fields. Path and road sides.

Characteristics: This is the only Plantago species to found in the Balears that does not have all of its leaves in a basal rosette, to the contrary, stems are very branched and forms diverse aligned spicules at the top of the peduncles that are borne in the leaf axils.