Ricerc@Sapienza

Plantago Linnaeus (1753: 112) (Plantaginaceae) is a genus including 200–250 species distributed throughout the temperate
zone and the high-elevation tropical regions (Rahn 1996, Rønsted et al. 2002).
This genus is critical from the taxonomical point of view, showing a high morphological variability and plasticity
(Anderson et al. 2013), a reduced number of morphological characters (Rahn, 1996) and a phylogenetic history not completely
resolved (Rønsted et al. 2002, Ishikawa et al. 2009, Tay et al. 2010, Meudt 2011). In addition, recently new species were

Plantago Linnaeus (1753: 112) (Plantaginaceae Juss.) is a cosmopolitan genus including about 250 species distributed
in the temperate zone and high-elevation tropical regions (Pilger 1937, Rahn 1996, Hassemer et al. 2016). The genus
is taxonomically critical because of its high morphological variability and plasticity, reduced number of diagnostic
characters and a still unresolved phylogenetical history (Rahn 1996, Rønsted et al. 2002).
According to the current concept (Rahn 1996, updated by Rønsted et al. 2002, and Hoggard et al. 2003), Plantago