About Plantago unibracteata Rahn
Plantago unibracteata Rahn grows as small rosettes, with a primary root reaching up to 10 mm thick. Its basal rosette holds up to 34 typically narrowly angular-ovate leaves, and visible short rust-coloured leaf axillary hairs under 13 mm long can be seen at the leaf bases. Each leaf has 1 vein, is 8–46 mm long including the petiole, up to 13 mm wide, and is usually punctate. The upper leaf surface is sparsely hairy or has only scattered isolated hairs on its lower half, while the lower leaf surface is completely glabrous. Leaves have an acute apex, and their margins can be smooth, wavy, or bear up to 10 small teeth. The petiole is usually distinguishable from the leaf blade, and grows up to 24 mm long. A single rosette produces up to 12 erect inflorescences, which can reach 72 mm in total length. The scapes are smooth, with hair density ranging from sparse to dense. Inflorescence spikes are globose, holding 1–2 tightly packed flowers. Each flower has 1–2 small bracts that are narrowly ovate to very broadly ovate, and usually glabrous. The calyx measures 1.6–3.7 mm long by 1.6–3.6 mm wide, is mostly glabrous, and only rarely has a single hair at its apex. The corolla tube is 1.7–3.6 mm long, corolla lobes are 1.0–2.5 mm long, stamen filaments are 3.1–6.3 mm long, anthers are 1.2–1.7 mm long, and the style is 3.4–9.3 mm long and densely hairy. The ovary is 0.8–1.7 mm long, and holds up to 23 ovules. The fruit is a dry dehiscent capsule that opens via circumscissile dehiscence; it can be ellipsoid, broadly ellipsoid, or globose, is widest at its midpoint, and measures 2.1–4.9 mm long by 1.8–3.9 mm wide. Each capsule contains 5–23 uniformly rust or brown seeds, which are 0.6–2.2 mm long and usually rhomboid or angular-ovoid. Plantago unibracteata flowers from October to February, and fruits from December to May. Its reported chromosome counts are 2n=60 and 2n=72. This plantain species is endemic to the North, South, and Stewart Islands of New Zealand. On the North Island, it occurs in the Volcanic Plateau, Taranaki, and Southern North Island regions. On the South Island, it is found in Western Nelson, Westland, Canterbury, Otago, and Fiordland Southland regions. It grows in damp or wet areas: on exposed ridges, in herbfields and grasslands within bogs, and along the edges of streams and tarns, at elevations ranging from 440 to 1830 m above sea level.
