Wildflowers come in a variety of colors and sizes. Buck's horn and ribwort are of the plantain family and feature green-colored flowers.
Buck's horn plantain
The numerous many-toothed leaves of buck's horn plantain (Plantago coronopus) at first grow flat against the ground in a star-like rosette, then turn up at the ends to form a bowl shape. The cylindrical hairy stems also curve upwards.
Sea plantain, a variation of the plant, grows near salt water and on mountains inland. Its leaves are fleshy and strap-shaped, sometimes with one or two teeth. The flowers are borne in long narrow spikes at the tops of the stems. Usually the plant is hairless.
The plant grown on sand, gravel and rocks, especially near the sea.
Ribwort plantain
The dark flower spike at the tip of a furrowed stem makes ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata) distinctive. The flowers have four whitish sepals, each with a brown central keel and four brownish petals. The long stamens are creamy-white—unlike the purple stamens of hoary plantain, which give that plant a reddish appearance.
Greater plantain, common in garden paths and lawns, has broad and almost hairless leaves. Its flower spikes are long and pale green at the top of unfurrowed stalks.
The flowers can be found on pastures, lawns, waste ground and roadsides.
The Reader’s Digest Association Inc./GID
Buck's horn plantain features hairy stems that curve upward.
