北车前 bei che qian

Plantago media var. urvilleana Rapin; P. stepposa Kuprianova.

Herbs, perennial. Taproot cylindric, thick. Leaves basal; petiole 0.5-8 cm, winged, densely retrorsely pubescent; leaf blade elliptic, ovate, or obovate, 4.5-13 × 1.5-5 cm, papery to thickly papery, white pubescent, veins 7 or 9, base cuneate to attenuate, margin entire or remotely repand-crenate, apex acute. Spikes cylindric, 3-8 cm, densely flowered; peduncle 15-40(-45) cm, white pubescent; bracts narrowly ovate, 2-3 mm, basally and adaxially pubescent, keel thick, apex subacute. Sepals as long as bract, glabrous, keel not extending to apex; lower sepals ovate-elliptic to broadly ovate; upper sepals broadly ovate. Corolla white, glabrous; lobes ovate-elliptic to ovate, 1.7-2.3 mm, patent to reflexed. Stamens lilac turning black when dry, adnate to near base of corolla tube, exserted; anthers oblong, 1.7-1.9 mm. Pyxis ovoid-ellipsoid, 2.5-4 mm, with 2-4 seeds. Seeds yellowish brown to brown, ellipsoid, 1.5-2 mm, shiny, ventral face prominent; cotyledons parallel to ventral side. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Jul-Sep. 2n = 12*, 24.

Meadows, wet banks, ravines, mountain slopes, terraces; 1400-2000 m. Nei Mongol, Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia (Far East, Siberia); SW Asia, Europe].