Dear Saroj ji, I have been looking at our Plantago species here and finding it very difficult to identify with great certainty. First, to differentiate *P. asiatica* from *P. major* is a challenge. The flower stalk is absent on major but should be there on asiatica. However, the stalk is very short and difficult to see. Chromosome count is different but that is beyond my scope to check.
According to *Tibetan Medicinal Plants* 'typical *P. erosa* is characterised by a loose spike and irregularly, jaggedly toothed leaves which are hairy (especially when young)' From your photos I can see that the shape of leaves fits the description but I cannot tell if they are hairy (small tufts of hairs on the teeth of some leaves are visible but I cannot see anything more. There are no young leaves). The spike doesn't appear loose to me and I cannot tell whether the sepal keel is continuous. I will keep these plants broadly under *Plantago major* for the time being. The authors go on to say that all samples collected by them in the Muktinath Valley were typical *P. major* and not *P. erosa*. They suspect that *P. erosa* might grow in lower altitudes. Experts are guarded in determining the species using the macroscopic characters only. Their language is guarded and they emphasise on the difficulties in distinguishing the species, subspecies and varieties in the field. I wish I could be of more help. Regards, Ashwini On Wednesday, 3 May 2017 23:46:18 UTC+5:30, Saroj Kumar Kasaju wrote: > > Dear Members, > > Location: Soureni, Mirik, India > Date: 21 April 2017 > Altitude: 4200 ft. > > *Plantago erosa* Wall. (synonym) ?? > > > > Thank you. > > Saroj Kasaju > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "efloraofindia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/indiantreepix/92839ddd-3424-4f73-b222-e2d592ba898a%40googlegroups.com.
