PALE INDIAN PLANTAIN
File Size: 128 KB
 
Arnoglossum atriplicifolium   (L. ) H.E. Robins
[=Cacalia atriplicifolia L.]
Marshall County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 3-10 feet
Family: Asteraceae - Sunflower Family
Flowering Period:   June, July, August, September
Stems: Erect, unbranched below inflorescence, round in cross section, weakly ridged or smooth, waxy.
Leaves: Alternate, basal leaves few, long-stalked, blades triangular-ovate or heart-shaped, to 12 inches long and wide, palmately-veined with 3-10 main veins, glabrous; margins toothed or shallowly-lobed; lobes usually broadly pointed; lower stem leaves similar, more conspicuously lobed; stem leaves progressively reduced upward; lower surface pale green, waxy; upper stem leaves short-stalked.
Inflorescences: Cyme, corymb-like, terminal and in axils of uppermost leaves; heads numerous, 100+, involucre stalked, narrowly cylindric, 1/3 to 2/5 inch tall; involcural bracts 5, erect, spreading in fruit, oblong, greenish-white, rounded on back.
Flowers: Ray florets absent; disk florets 5; corollas deeply 5-lobed, 1/3 to 1/2 inch long, white or greenish-white, sometimes pale purple.
Fruits: Achene, egg-shaped to spindle-shaped, 1/6 to 1/5 inch long, 10-ribbed, brown or purplish, tipped with numerous white bristles 1/6 to 1/4 inch long, enclosing small seed.
Habitat: Edges of woods, stream banks, occasionally pastures and roadsides.
Distribution: East 1/3 of Kansas.
Origin: Native
Uses: Native Americans applied a poultice of pale Indian plantain to cuts and bruises and used it to treat cancer and to draw out poisonous substances. The leaves were powdered and used as a seasoning.

Pale Indian plantain inflorescence
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Marshall County, Kansas
Pale Indian plantain bracts and florets
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Marshall County, Kansas
Pale Indian plantain
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Marshall County, Kansas
Pale Indian plantain stem and leaves
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Marshall County, Kansas
Pale Indian plantain leaves
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Marshall County, Kansas
Pale Indian plantain leaves
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Marshall County, Kansas
Pale Indian plantain habit
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Marshall County, Kansas