PollyMapPlantago pollen photographed through the microscope in the PollyKit lab.
More verified photos of Plantago
About plantain pollen
Weed pollen from English plantain, a lawn and roadside plant with a long flowering season.
Plants that produce it
- English / narrowleaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
- Broadleaf plantain in lawns and paths
- Desert plantain / Indianwheat in the Southwest
How to recognize it
Spherical grain covered with roughly a dozen shallow pores scattered over the surface, each ringed by a thickened rim, with a granular wall between them.
Typical published size: 20–30 µm
Commonly confused with
- Chenopod pollen — more numerous, smaller and more regularly spaced pores
- Grass pollen — only one pore
Allergy relevance
Moderately allergenic, and notable for a long flowering period that stretches symptoms across much of the warm season.
Where it's found
Naturalized in every US state.
Also searched as: plantain pollen, plantago pollen, english plantain pollen, ribwort pollen.
Related pollen specimens
Citing this specimen: PollyMap Specimen Library. “Plantago — verified microscope specimen.” pollymap.com/library/specimen/plantago-pollen-f4b45b
Expert discussion
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