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Taxon:  Plantago ovata Forssk.



Summary
Genus:
Plantago
Subgenus:
Psyllium
Section:
Albicans
Family:
Plantaginaceae
Tribe:
Plantagineae
Nomen number:
28790
Place of publication:
Fl. aegypt.-arab. 31. 1775
Verified:
01/07/2003 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
7 (5  active, 0  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Plantago fastigiata E. Morris
Plantago insularis Eastw.
Plantago ispaghul Roxb.
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
  2. Bisset, N. G., ed. Herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. A handbook for practice on a scientific basis. 1994
  3. Blumenthal, M., ed. The complete German Commission E monographs: therapeutic guide to herbal medicines. 1998
  4. Botanical Society of the British Isles. BSBI taxon database (on-line resource).
  5. Boulos, L. Flora of Egypt. 1999-
  6. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. 1969. The wealth of India: a dictionary of Indian raw materials and industrial products. Raw materials. Delhi. 1948-1976 7:148-153.
  7. Cronquist, A. et al. Intermountain flora. 1972-
  8. Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
  9. Erhardt, W. et al. Der große Zander: Enzyklopädie der Pflanzennamen. 2008
  10. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  11. Foster, S. & J. A. Duke. A field guide to medicinal plants: Eastern/Central North America, 2nd ed. 2000
  12. Ghazanfar, S. A. An annotated catalogue of the vascular plants of Oman. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2. 1992
  13. Greuter, W. et al., eds. Med-Checklist. 1984-
  14. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm.
  15. Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17. 1993
  16. Hickman, J. C., ed. The Jepson manual: higher plants of California. 1993
  17. Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres. 2004
  18. Janick, J. & J. Simon, eds. Advances in new crops. 1990
  19. Kartesz, J. T. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 1994
  20. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964
  21. L'Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament. 2012. Pharmacopée française – Liste A des plantes médicinales utilisees traditionnellement. 16.
  22. Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2. 1996
  23. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
  24. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  25. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  26. Middleditch, B. S. & A. M. Amer. Kuwaiti plants: distribution, traditional medicine, phytochemistry,... economic value (Studies in Plant Science 2). 1991
  27. Migahid, A. M. Flora of Saudi Arabia, ed. 3. 1988-1990
  28. Moerman, D. Native American ethnobotany, ed. 5. 1998
  29. Mouterde, P. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie. 1966-
  30. Padua, L. S. de et al., eds. 1999. Medicinal and poisonous plants 1. Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 1989- 12(1):402.
  31. Peirce, A. The American Pharmaceutical Association practical guide to natural medicines. 1999
  32. Rahn, K. 1979. Plantago ser. Ovatae: a taxonomic revision. Bot. Tidsskr. 74:13-20.
  33. Rechinger, K. H., ed. Flora iranica. 1963-
  34. Tirtha, SadaShiva. The Ayurveda encyclopedia: Natural secrets to healing, prevention, and longevity. 1998
  35. Van Wyk, B.-E. & M. Wink. Medicinal plants of the world. 2004
  36. Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
  37. Wood, J. R. I. A handbook of the flora of Yemen. 1997
  38. Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. Flora palaestina. 1966-
  39. Webster's third new international dictionary. 1961
Common names
English
blond plantain –
blond psyllium –
blonde ispaghula –
Indian plantago –
Indian plantain –
ispaghul –
ispaghula –
psyllium –
spogel seeds –
Arabic
loqmet el-na'aga –
French
ispaghul –
German
indischer Flohsame –
Portuguese (Brazil)
tanchagem-ovada –
transagem-ovada –
Swedish
vitt loppfrö –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalMadeira Islands 
1NativeAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanary Islands 
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaKuwait  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaOman  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaSaudi Arabia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaYemen  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTurkmenistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaAfghanistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaEgyptSinai 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIraq  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaJordan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaSyria  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
2Cultivated     
4NaturalizedNorthern America North America  
Native
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands], Portugal [Madeira Islands]
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
  • CAUCASUS: Azerbaijan
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Turkmenistan
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt [Sinai], Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Syria
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Pakistan
Europe
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain
Cultivated ()
Naturalized
Northern America
  • REGION: North America
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Food additivesstabilizer Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2. 1996
Food additivesthickening agent Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2. 1996
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=28790. Accessed 18 July 2025.


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