Wikipedia

Plantago triantha

Plantago triantha is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae that is native to Tasmania, Australia and the subantarctic Auckland Islands of New Zealand. Robert Brown described the species in 1810. Plants of this species of plantain are annual or perennial with a rosette habit, fleshy toothed leaves, and short inflorescences.

Plantago triantha
Rosette of Plantago triantha, photographed on Auckland Island

Naturally Uncommon (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Plantago
Species:
P. triantha
Binomial name
Plantago triantha
Synonyms[4]

Plantago carnosa R.Br (1810) non Lam. (1791)
Plantago brownii Rapin (1827)
Plantago browniana Schultes & Schultes (1827)
Plantago subantarctica Cockayne (1928)

Taxonomy and etymology edit

 
Illustration of Plantago triantha

Plantago triantha is in the plant family Plantaginaceae.[5] It was first described by Scottish botanist Robert Brown in his 1810 Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae as Plantago carnosa R.Br. based on a specimen collected by Brown in 1804 in Port Esperance in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel near Dover, Tasmania.[4]

The holotype specimen is at the Natural History Museum, London (R. Brown 298; BM000898120).[6][4]

The name P. carnosa R.Br. is illegitimate, since Plantago carnosa Lam. had already been described for a different, South African plant by French botanist Jean-Baptiste Lamark in 1792.[7][8][9][10]

In the 1800s, several botanists suggested new names for this species, including German botanist Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel whose name Plantago triantha has been used for this species since its publication in late 1824.[4][2][3]

The specific epithet means 'three-flowered'.[11]

Description edit

 
Close up of Plantago trinantha leaves and flower, Auckland Island
 
"Lawn" of Plantago triantha rosettes

Plantago triantha plants are rosettes with a primary root up to 1 cm thick, with up to 65 angular-obovate leaves, and with short (<3 mm long), concealed leaf axillary hairs in the basal rosette. The leaves are 1-3 veined, 0.5-9 cm long (including petiole) and up to 1.7 cm wide, not punctate, usually glabrous on both surfaces, and sometimes with isolated hairs. The leaf has an acute apex, and its edges are smooth or with 2–6 small teeth. The petiole is usually distinguishable from the leaf lamina, and up to 7 cm long. Each rosette plant has 4–42 erect inflorescences which can be up to 12 cm long. The scapes are ribbed and hairy with patent hairs. The spikes are globose with 1–8 densely crowded flowers. Each flower has a bract that is ovate to very broadly ovate and glabrous (or sometimes with a few hairs at the apex). The calyx is 2.6–3.9 mm long, 1.4–3.5 mm wide, mostly glabrous but sometimes with a few hairs on the margins or midrib. The corolla tube is 1.9–3.3 mm long, corolla lobes 1.0–1.8 mm long, stamen filaments 2.1–4.7 mm long, anthers 1.0–1.7 mm long, and style 2.3–5.4 mm long and densely hairy. The ovary is 0.9–1.8 mm long, with 7–10 ovules. The fruit is a dry, dehiscent capsule with circumsessile dehiscence, usually ellipsoid to globose, widest at or above middle, 2.1–4.0 mm long and 0.9–3.2 mm wide. Each capsule has 3-10 uniform brown seeds 0.9–1.8 mm long of various shapes.[4]

Plantago triantha has flowers and fruits from November to February.[4]

The chromosome number of Plantago triantha is n=12.[12]

Distribution and habitat edit

 
Plantago triantha plants in coastal, rocky salt spray habitat on Auckland Island

Plantago triantha is a plantain that is native to Tasmania, Australia and the subantarctic Auckland Islands of New Zealand.[4][13][14]

In the Auckland Islands, it is found on the main Auckland Island, Enderby Island and Ocean Island,[4] and has also been reported on Rose Island. Enderby Island, P. triantha can form large, dense "lawns" near the coast.[15]

In Tasmania, it is found throughout the main island, especially the northwest,[16] west and southeast coasts, plus Flinders Island, Cape Barren Island, Flat Witch Island, Sarah Island and Tasman Island.[4]

Plantago triantha is a halophyte[16] that can form patches or dense turf on coastal rocks and soil in the salt spray zone near the high tide mark, from 0-20 m above sea level (rarely up to 200m elevation).[4] It can be a dominant plant in the herbfields of such habitats in Tasmania.[17]

Phylogeny edit

Plantago triantha was included in phylogenetic analyses of Australasian species of Plantago using standard DNA sequencing markers (nuclear ribosomal DNA, chloroplast DNA, and mitochondrial DNA regions).[18] In that study, Plantago triantha was moderately to strongly supported as being closely related to the Australian species Plantago varia and Plantago debilis.[18] These three species are in a clade that comprises other native Australian species plus the New Zealand species Plantago spathulata and Plantago raoulii.[18]

Plantago triantha was not included in other phylogenetic studies of the New Zealand species using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs)[19] nor those focusing on Plantago species throughout the world using whole chloroplast genomes or standard DNA sequencing markers.[20][21]

Seed composition edit

The seeds of Plantago triantha have low levels of mucilage and very low water absorption capacity, but very high in protein content, over 30% (w/w).[22]

Conservation status edit

 
Te Papa herbarium specimen of P. triantha collected by Frederick Chapman in the Auckland Islands in 1890

The species is listed as At Risk - Naturally Uncommon in the most recent assessment (2017-2018) of the New Zealand Threatened Classification for plants, as it was in 2009 and 2012. It also has the qualifiers "RR" (Range Restricted) and "SO" (Secure Overseas).[23]

Prior to the eradication of feral goats on the Auckland Islands, Plantago triantha was one of about 50 native plants that were found in the rumens of feral goats.[24] Remains of P. triantha were not found in the stomachs of feral pigs, which are still present on Auckland Island.[24]

References edit

  1. ^ Lange, Peter J. de; Rolfe, Jeremy R.; Barkla, John W.; Courtney, Shannel P.; Champion, Paul D.; Perrie, Leon R.; Beadel, Sarah M.; Ford, Kerry A.; Breitwieser, Ilse; Schönberger, Ines; Hindmarsh-Walls, Rowan (2018). "Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 22: 46. OCLC 1041649797.
  2. ^ a b "Plantago triantha". Australian Plant Name Index, IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b Sprengel, C.P.J. (1824). "Plantago triantha". Systema Vegetabilium. 17 (1): 439.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Meudt, Heidi (1 June 2012). "A taxonomic revision of native New Zealand Plantago (Plantaginaceae)". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 50 (2): 101–178. Bibcode:2012NZJB...50..101M. doi:10.1080/0028825X.2012.671179. S2CID 84968326.
  5. ^ "Plantago triantha". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Type of Plantago carnosa R.Br. [family PLANTAGINACEAE] on JSTOR". JSTOR Global Plants.
  7. ^ "Plantago carnosa R.Br". Australian Plant Name Index, IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  8. ^ Brown, R. (1810). Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae et insulae Van-Diemen, exhibens characteres plantarum quas annis 1802-1805. p. 425.
  9. ^ Lamarck, (1792) Tabl. Encycl. 1: 342
  10. ^ "Plantago triantha Spreng. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  11. ^ Packer, John G. (1993). Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). "Triantha". Flora of North America North of Mexico [Online]. Vol. 26. New York and Oxford. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  12. ^ Groves, B. E.; Hair, J. B. (1971). "Contributions to a Chromosome Atlas of the New Zealand Flora—15 Miscellaneous Families". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 9 (4): 569–575. Bibcode:1971NZJB....9..569G. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1971.10430222.
  13. ^ "Plantago aucklandica is a megaherb!". Te Papa’s Blog. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Key to Tasmanian Dicots". www.utas.edu.au. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  15. ^ Godley, Eric John (1 January 1985). "A visit to the Auckland Islands in the summer of 1962–63". Tuatara. 28: 1–13.
  16. ^ a b Brown, M. J. (1991). "A synopsis of the genus Plantago L. in Tasmania". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. 124 (2): 65–74. doi:10.26749/rstpp.124.2.65.
  17. ^ S, Harris; Brothers, N.; Coates, F.; Edgar, G. J.; Last, P. R.; Richardson, A. M. M.; Wells, P. (1983). "The biological significance of a coastline in the roaring forties latitudes". Tasmanian Wilderness - World Heritage: 123–128.
  18. ^ a b c Tay, Mei Lin; Meudt, Heidi; Garnock-Jones, Philip John; Ritchie, Peter (1 January 2010). "DNA sequences from three genomes reveal multiple long-distance dispersals and non-monophyly of sections in Australasian Plantago (Plantaginaceae)". Australian Systematic Botany. 23 (1): 47. doi:10.1071/SB09040.
  19. ^ Meudt, Heidi (1 February 2011). "Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Data Reveal a History of Auto- and Allopolyploidy in New Zealand Endemic Species of Plantago (Plantaginaceae): New Perspectives on a Taxonomically Challenging Group". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 172 (2): 220–237. doi:10.1086/657657. S2CID 85402923.
  20. ^ Hassemer, Gustavo; Bruun-Lund, Sam; Shipunov, Aleksey Borisovich; Briggs, Barbara G.; Meudt, Heidi; Rønsted, Nina (18 May 2019). "The application of high-throughput sequencing for taxonomy: The case of Plantago subg. Plantago (Plantaginaceae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 138: 156–173. doi:10.1016/J.YMPEV.2019.05.013. PMID 31112781.
  21. ^ Ahlstrand, Natalie Iwanycki; Verstraete, Brecht; Hassemer, Gustavo; Dunbar-Co, S.; Hoggard, R.; Meudt, Heidi; Rønsted, Nina (15 March 2019). "Ancestral range reconstruction of remote oceanic island species of Plantago (Plantaginaceae) reveals differing scales and modes of dispersal". Journal of Biogeography. 46 (4): 706–722. Bibcode:2019JBiog..46..706I. doi:10.1111/JBI.13525. PMC 6559316. PMID 31217659.
  22. ^ Cowley, James M.; O'Donovan, Lisa A.; Burton, Rachel A. (16 June 2021). "The composition of Australian Plantago seeds highlights their potential as nutritionally-rich functional food ingredients". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 12692. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1112692C. doi:10.1038/S41598-021-92114-1. PMC 8209032. PMID 34135417.
  23. ^ Lange, Peter J. de; Rolfe, Jeremy R.; Barkla, John W.; Courtney, Shannel P.; Champion, Paul D.; Perrie, Leon R.; Beadel, Sarah M.; Ford, Kerry A.; Breitwieser, Ilse; Schönberger, Ines; Hindmarsh-Walls, Rowan (May 2018). "Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 22: 1–86. OCLC 1041649797.
  24. ^ a b Chimera, C.; Coleman, M. C.; Parkes, J. P. (1995). "Diet of feral goats and feral pigs on Auckland Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Ecology. 19 (2): 203–207.

External links edit

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