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Sea Plantain
Plantago maritima
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Sea plantain is a low, long‑lived plant of salty coasts with tight tufts of narrow, fleshy, grey‑green leaves. From the centre rise long stalks carrying dense heads of tiny pale flowers. It is typical on sea shores and other salty places, and can also appear along salted roads.
Did you know?
- It often colonises roadsides that are salted in winter, far from the sea.
- Its flower head is usually a long slim cylinder, but can be so short it looks like a little ball.
About the species
Identification
10–30 cm tall. Leaves many, forming a low tuft at the base; narrow and thick (2–15 mm wide), almost flat, grey‑green, sometimes with a few small teeth. Flower stalks usually taller than the leaves and may curve at the base. The flower head is a dense, slender cylinder of tiny pale flowers, sometimes shorter or ball‑like. Later it carries small capsules with a few seeds. Can be confused with sea arrowgrass: that has round, hollow leaves (not flat) and its small flowers are spaced along the stem, not in a dense head. Flowers in Finland from June to August.
Plant group
Herbaceous plants
Habitat
shore
Flowering
Jun–Aug
About the habitat
Open, sunny, salty ground: sea meadows, stony and rocky shores, and cracks in seaside rocks; also road verges where salt is used. Common along all Finnish coasts, most abundant in the south; also found along major roads and occasionally inland.
Sources
Photo: Marco Iboshi, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6184778806
Text: Pinkka: A Pohjolan kasveja - Laburnum-Luzula, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39677
Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Itämeri: kivikkorannat, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39677
Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39677
Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meriratamo
