Flora of Israel: African plantain

Plantago afra, Plantago psyllium, African plantain, Black psyllium, Flea-seed plant, Fleawort, Glandular Plantain,

Hebrew: לחך בלוטי, Arabic: لسان الحمل الإفريقي


Scientific name:		Plantago afra L.
Synonym name:		Plantago psyllium L.
Common name:		African plantain, Black psyllium, Flea-seed plant, Fleawort, Glandular Plantain
Hebrew name:		לחך בלוטי
Arabic name:		لسان الحمل الإفريقي
Family:		Plantaginaceae, Plantain Family, לחכיים

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}


Life form:		Therophyte, annual
Leaves:		Opposite, entire, smooth
Flowers:		White
Flowering Period:		January, February, March, April, May
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral
Protected Flower, צמח מוגן:		No

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Plantago, plantagin (stem), a “plantain”.

afra, Afer, a son of the Libyan Hercules, land of Afer, i.e. Africa; from the North African coast.
psyllium, Greek psylla, a flea, and psyllion, a kind of plant, fleawort, from the plant’s use against fleas.
The Hebrew name: לחך, lahakh, the plantain, New Hebrew, from לחך, lahakh, was licked up, was lapped up, was eaten up.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

_{Location: Irises Dora Rainpool}