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Plantago gunnii, bolster plantain, is a tiny alpine rosette herb found only in Tasmania, growing in cushion moor communities on dolerite mountains. It is a plant for cool, wet, high-altitude conditions rather than ordinary garden care.
Plantago gunnii is endemic to Tasmania and is commonly referred to as bolster plantain or bolster plantago. The etymology of the genus Plantago comes from the Latin words planta (the sole of a foot) and the suffix –ago (indicating resemblance), which is represented by the leaves pressed flat against the ground.
The species name gunnii is in honour of Ronald Campbell Gunn of Launceston, who first discovered the species.
P. gunnii was given its common name, bolster plantago, because of its distribution as the species is restricted only found in bolster (cushion) moor communities in alpine environments on dolerite mountains of Tasmania. Bolster moor communities consist predominately of cushion plant species in Tasmania that occupy tundra, alpine and treeless alpine vegetation. Within this community are several alpine and subalpine species, with cushion plants making up >50% of plant cover. P. gunnii is one of the typical understorey Scrambler/Climber/Epiphytes species expected to occur in these ecosystems that occur in alpine and subalpine areas of Tasmania but are most common in the Eastern Central Plateau between 900 and 1,200 m (3,000 and 3,900 ft), similarly coinciding with Abrotanella for steroids and other cushion plant species. The local environment in which this alpine cushion plant ecosystem and P. gunnii thrive are broad valley plains of high rainfall with poor drainage, which are often wet and peaty.
Glandular Plantain · Plantago albicans · Alpine Plantain · Plantago altissima · Plantain · Largebracted plantain · Chinese Plantain · Plantago aucklandica · Plantago bellardi · Plantago brownii · Heartleaf plantain · Plantago cornuti
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Plantago gunnii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
