Plantago ovata (Desert Indianwheat)

 2/27/05 Henderson Canyon Road, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA

CNPS Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter trip

2/27/05

 4/3/11 Meccacopia Trail, Mecca Hills, Riverside County, CA

3/15/19 Desert Lily Sanctuary, Desert Center, 
Chuckwalla Valley, E. Riverside County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Desert Indianwheat

SPECIES: Plantago ovata 

FAMILY: Plantaginaceae (Plantain Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 2/27/2005

LOCATION: Henderson Canyon Road, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, CA, CNPS Riverside-San Bernardino Chapter trip

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Annual, ± densely silky-hairy

Leaf 2–17 cm, linear or rarely oblong, entire or teeth few, minute

Inflorescences few–many, generally 2–27 cm including peduncle; spike 0.5–3.5 cm, generally short-cylindric, dense, woolly; bract ± = sepals, ovate to round, not exerted

Flower: corolla lobes 1.3–2.8 mm, spreading, round-ovate, tips obtuse; stamens 4
Seeds 2, 2–2.5 mm

Ecology: Sandy or gravelly soils, creosote-bush scrub, Joshua-tree woodland, sagebrush scrub, coastal strand

Elevation: < 1400 m.  

Bioregional distribution: Central Western California, Southwestern California, East of Sierra Nevada, Desert 

Distribution outside California: to Utah, Texas, Baja California; also Mediterranean

Flowering time: Feb–Apr