1726 Plantago maritima L.

Within this polymorphic species several lower taxa are distinguished (cf. Hultén, Circumpol. Il, p. 188, 184f.; Fl. Eur. 4/1976, p. 41). The population in Europe, mainly along the coasts, is identified as subsp. maritima, here including subsp. serpentina (All.) Arcang. (probably an ecological variant according to Fl. Eur., I. cit.) in South European mountains. The E. European and Asiatic inland population is distinguished as subsp. salsa (Pallas) Hult. In N. America subsp. juncoides (Lam.) Hult. has a disjunct distribution in W and E, continuing on Greenland, Iceland and in N. Fennoscandia and arctic Russia. A restricted population in California is distinguished as subsp. juncoides var. californica Fem. The whole P. maritima complex has a circumpolar distribution (Hultén, Circumpol. Il, p. 188, 384f. and map 180), although there are gaps in E. Asia and N. America. Further, subsp. juncoides occurs in southern S. America, probably as an indigenous plant. Cf. also Meusel et al. 1978, map p. 419.