Saturday, September 09, 2006

Greater plantain,Plantago major


There is one plant of greater plantain in Wbx but, although the soil is good, it does not grow nearly as well as others of this species do on trampled gateways, lawns and so on.

The main reason seems to be is that it has been infested with aphids ever since it was very small and these have considerably distorted the leaves. There are three aphid species that live on P. major and I have not yet worked out which one this is. Despite this problem, it has managed to produce a flowering spike and will set seed.

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