Defn: Any plant of the genus Plantago, but especially the P. major, a low herb with broad spreading radical leaves, and slender spikes of minute flowers. It is a native of Europe, but now found near the abode of civilized man in nearly all parts of the world. Indian plantain. (Bot.) See under Indian. — Mud plantain, a homely North American aquatic plant (Heteranthera reniformis), having broad, reniform leaves. — Rattlesnake plantain, an orchidaceous plant (Goodyera pubescens), with the leaves blotched and spotted with white. — Ribwort plantain. See Ribwort. — Robin's plantain, the Erigeron bellidifolium, a common daisylike plant of North America. — Water plantain, a plant of the genus Alisma, having acrid leaves, and formerly regarded as a specific against hydrophobia. Loudon.
PLANTAL
Plant"al, a. Etym: [L. planta a plant.]
Defn: Belonging to plants; as, plantal life. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.
PLANTAR
Plan"tar, a. Etym: [L. plantaris, fr. planta the sole of the foot.]
(Anat.)
Defn: Of or pertaining to the sole of the foot; as, the plantar arteries.
PLANTATION
Plan*ta"tion, n. Etym: [L. plantatio: cf. F. plantation.]
1. The act or practice of planting, or setting in the earth for growth. [R.]
2. The place planted; land brought under cultivation; a piece of ground planted with trees or useful plants; esp., in the United States and West Indies, a large estate appropriated to the production of the more important crops, and cultivated by laborers who live on the estate; as, a cotton plantation; a coffee plantation.
3. An original settlement in a new country; a colony. While these plantations were forming in Connecticut. B. Trumbull.
PLANT-CANE
Plant"-cane`, n.