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DESCRIPTION:
Buckhorn plantain is a perennial found throughout California. Seedlings
have very long, needle-like cotyledons (seed leaves) which are fused at the base. First and subsequent few
leaves are narrow, short-hairy, and roughly 4/5 inch (20 mm) to 1 1/2 inch (40 mm) in length with an especially
hairy base that gradually tapers to a winged stalk. Broader, pale green, true leaves have prominent parallel
veins. The mature plant, reaching
up to 1.5 feet (45 cm) tall, is stemless. Leaves are 3 to 10
inches (8 - 25 cm) long and cluster around the base of the plant.
They taper to slender flowering stalks, 6 to 20 inches (15 -
50 cm) tall. The flowering stalks are tipped with flower spikes
that have protruding white male reproductive structures. Buckhorn plantain can be distinguished from broadleaf
plantain by the narrower leaves and longer flower cluster stalks. In apples, buckhorn plantain is
a special problem because it serves as a
host for
rosy apple
aphid.
See UC IPM's Plantains Pest
Note for more information.
Broadleaf ID illustration.
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