''Plantago debilis'' is a species of herb native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Common names include shade plantain and weak plantain.

Description

It grows as an annual or

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

up to 20 centimetres high, with green or white flowers and a slender taproot.

Taxonomy

This species was first published by Robert Brown in his 1810 '' Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae''. In 1916

Joseph Maiden Joseph Henry Maiden (25 April 1859 – 16 November 1925) was a botanist who made a major contribution to knowledge of the Australian flora, especially the genus ''Eucalyptus''. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation when citing ...

and

Ernst Betche Daniel Ludwig Ernst Betche (31 December 1851, in Potsdam – 28 June 1913, in Sydney) was a German-Australian horticulturist and botanist. His mother died at his birth and he was of delicate constitution all his life. His father was sufficiently ...

demoted it to a variety of '' P. varia'', but this was not accepted. Two varieties have been published, but it is unclear whether they are still recognised. ''P. debilis'' var. ''parvifolia'' was published as ''P. varia'' var. ''parvifolia'' by George Bentham in 1870. In 1937 Robert Pilger transferred it to ''P. debilis'', thus implicitly publishing the autonym ''P. debilis'' var. ''debilis''. The specific epithet, ''debilis'', is a Latin adjective, L. ''debilis,-is,-e'', meaning "weak", "feeble", "frail".

Distribution and habitat

It is native to

, occurring in every state and territory. It favours moist sandy soils.

Aboriginal uses

The

Noongar people The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

of south west

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

heated and crushed the leaves to give a liquid that was used to make poultices for sprains, ulcers, and boils.

References

External list

''Plantago debilis'' occurrence data from Australasian Virtual Herbarium
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7201568 debilis Lamiales of Australia Plants described in 1810