Woolly Plantain
Plantago patagonica
Found in sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils, prairies; eastwards on roadsides and in disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
—
Not native
Not native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- About 6 inches
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- March to August
- Fruiting season
- Spring
JFMAMJJASOND
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
County records are not available.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 2
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
63CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Plantago
- Anagrapha falciferaCelery Looper Moth
- Anicla infectaGreen Cutworm Moth
- Apantesis annaAnna Tiger Moth
- Apantesis argeArge Tiger Moth
- Apantesis figurataFigured Tiger Moth
- Apantesis naisNais Tiger Moth
- Apantesis partheniceParthenice Tiger Moth
- Apantesis phalerataHarnessed Moth
- Apantesis virgoVirgin Tiger Moth
- Apantesis vittataBanded Tiger Moth
Show all 63
- Autographa bimaculataTwo-Spotted Looper Moth
- Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
- Chlosyne nycteisSilvery Checkerspot
- Dypterygia rozmaniAmerican Bird's-Wing
- Dysstroma truncataMarbled Carpet
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Euphydryas phaetonThe Baltimore, The Black Checker
- Euptoieta claudiaVariegated Fritillary, (?)Gulf Fritillary
- Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Hypercompe scriboniaGiant Leopard Moth, Great Leopard Moth
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Hyppa xylinoidesCommon Hyppa
- Junonia coeniaCommon Buckeye
- Lacinipolia olivaceaOlive Arches, Olive Groundcat
- Lacinipolia renigeraBristly Ground Cat, Bristly Cutworm Moth, Kidney Spotted "Mamestra"
- Lithophane bethuneiBethune's Pinion
- Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
- Melanchra adjunctaHitched Arches
- Melanchra pictaPainted Arches, Zebra Caterpillar Moth
- Neodactria caliginosellusCorn Webworm, Corn Root Webworm, Sooty Crambus
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Orthodes cynicaCynical Quaker, Cynical Groundcat
- Orthodes majusculaRustic Quaker, Rustic Groundcat
- Palthis angulalisDark-Spotted Palthis
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Phlogophora periculosaBrown Angle Shades
- Phragmatobia fuliginosaRuby Tiger Moth
- Phyciodes tharosPearl Crescent, Crescentspot
- Pseudorthodes vecorsSmall Brown Quaker, Small Brown Groundcat
- Pyrausta subsequalisMottled Pyrausta
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Spaelotis clandestinaClandestine Dart, W-Marked Cutworm
- Spilosoma congruaAgreeable Tiger Moth
- Spilosoma dubiaDubious Tiger Moth
- Spilosoma latipennisPink-Legged Tiger Moth
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spiramater lutraDarling Mamestra, Splashed Arches, Otter Spiramater, Otter Arches
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Tricholita signataSignate Quaker, Signate Groundcat
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Trichopolia oviducaRuddy Quaker
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Virbia aurantiacaOrange Virbia, Orange Holomelina
- Virbia laetaJoyful Virbia, Joyful Holomelina
- Xestia c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
- Xestia normanianusNorman's Dart
- Herpetogramma aquilonalis
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
9BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Plantago
- Alectoris chukarChukar
- Anser caerulescensSnow Goose
- Branta canadensisCanada Goose
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Melozone crissalisCalifornia Towhee
- Pipilo maculatusSpotted Towhee
- Pooecetes gramineusVesper Sparrow
- Spizella breweriBrewer's Sparrow
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Gray-green
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Spring
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Gray-green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 6 inches” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Plantago purshii
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | SH |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition
- USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe Explorer
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications