Kendall County (IL) Forest Preserve District
Pale Indian Plantain
Arnoglossum atriplicifolium
[C-value
8]
Aster family (Asteraceae)
Blooms August -
mid-September
The native Pale Indian Plantain is uncommon in our area. It prefers full sun to light shade and moist to slightly dry loamy or rocky soil. Habitats include prairies, savannas and woodland openings and borders. This perennial forms a rosette up to 1' across of basal leaves up to 8" long and 6" across. During the spring, an unbranched flowering stalk grows to 3-9' tall with alternate leaves up to 8" long and 8" across, becoming gradually smaller as they ascend the central stalk. This central stalk terminates in a flat-topped panicle of flowers arranged in small clusters of 4-15 flowers, each about 1/3" long and 1/8" across with 5 disk florets with 5 narrow lobes that are cream-colored, greenish white, or pale purplish white. Each fertile disk floret produces a seedpod with tufts of white hair that are later distributed by the wind.
Pale Indian Plantain at Harris Forest Preserve August 11, 2017
Pale Indian Plantain at Harris Forest Preserve August 11, 2017
Pale Indian Plantain foliage at Harris Forest Preserve August 11, 2017
Pale Indian Plantain seedpods at Harris Forest Preserve September 16, 2014
Pale Indian Plantain in fall at Harris Forest Preserve September 16, 2014
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