Volume 9 > Part 2 > Year 2008 > Page 153 > Plantaginaceae > Plantago

2. Plantago ovata Forsk.wfo-0000486655

Fl. Aegypt. Arab. 31. 1775; Decne. in A.DC., Prodr. 13: 706. 1852.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Annual or biennial, erect, herb, 4–15 cm high with a rosette of leaves which are upward pointing when flowering. Leaves linear, narrow, almost ensiform, very densely hirsute, sometimes woolly, about as long as flower heads. Flowers in ovate to oblong heads of knobbly appearance. Bracts with long, silky, ciliate hairs which are normally numerous.

Thailand : Cultivated.

Distribution : Europe to the Middle East and India.

Vernacular : Thian klet hoi (เทียนเกล็ดหอย)(Central).

CommonName : Blonde psyllium seed, White psyllium seed, White flea seed, Spogel seed, Ispaghula seed, Indian plantago seed.

Uses: Used in the pharmaceutical industry and widely cultivated.

Notes: Used as a source of bulk laxatives and as a source of food thickeners.