Plantago indica


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(Victoria (I), South Australia (I), Queensland (I), New South Wales (I)),
Argentina (I), Thailand (c) as per Catalogue of Life;

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Plantago indica from Sirmaur distt, HP : 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (1)

Plantago indica photographed by (late) Krishan Lal ji, in Sirmaur distt, Himachal Pradesh.

Plantago afra L. and Plantago indica L. appears quite close and confusing. 
I perused the illustration and description from Flora of Pakistan where both are listed.
Annual herb. Stems usually 20-30 (-60) cm tall, loosely covered with short glandular hairs, branches axillary. Leaves opposite, flat, up to 6 (-8) cm long, (2-) 3-4 mm broad, narrow-linear to linear-lanceolate, attenuated upwards, apices obtuse, entire to rarely slightly dentate. Inflorescence opposite in the axils of the upper leaves. Peduncles 5-6 cm long, subpatent. Spikes dense, many flowered, 1-1.5 (-1.75) cm long, ovate-elliptic. Lower parts of the two lower most bracts rotundate-ovate, up to 4 mm long, then abruptly contracted and produced in to a narrow, thick, 4-6 mm rarely to 10 mm long acuminate upper part, covered with long white, glandular hairs; upper bracts very distinct from the lower ones, rotundate ovate to obovate, apices nearly truncate.
Herbs, annual. Taproot tenuous. Stems, leaves, inflorescences, and sepals white glandular pubescent. Stem erect, (10-) 20-60 cm tall, branched, internode elongate. Leaves cauline, opposite, seldom in whorls of 3; petiole inconspicuous; leaf blade linear to linear-lanceolate, 3-6(-8) cm × 1-4(-5) mm, papery, veins (1 or)3, base decurrent onto petiole, margin entire, apex acuminate. Inflorescences arising from leaf axil apically from middle of stem; spikes ovoid to ellipsoid, 0.7-2 cm, densely flowered; peduncle 2-8 cm; basal most bracts 0.5-2 cm but reduced apically, base orbicular-ovate, apex cuspidate.
Annual herb with well developed stems. Stems up to 30 cm long, erect to slightly ascendent, upper parts covered with short hard, glandular hairs in young plants; stem usually branched in the upper part. Leaves opposite, thin, 3-6 cm long, 1.5-3 (-4) mm broad, linear to linear-lanceolate, entire to denate, narrowed gradually at both ends, apices ± obtuse, base slightly dilated, covered sparsely with short, hard, glandular hairs. Inflorescence axillary, peduncles 3-5 cm long, spreading, hairy. Spikes 8-12 (-15) mm long, dense elliptic to short cylindrical-ovate. Bracts 3-8 mm long, slightly concave, narrow-ovate to ovate, in the upper part produced into a long, narrow acuminate part, in the upper flowers the produced parts shorter, covered with intermixed short and long glandular and nonglandular hairs.
Flora of Pakistan says “Specimens collected by Miss Nishat Akhtar and Abida Begum from Swat and Hazara respectively are similar to Plantago afra in all the characters except that the bracts in these two specimens are very broad and long, even longer than the length of the spikes. Such long bracts are typical of Plantago indica but in Plantago indica the leaves are filiform and usually revolute at the margins, while these specimens have lanceolate, flat, leaves. These specimens after comparison with the types and more collection may prove to be a new variety of Plantago indica.”
In view, I am in favour of going for Plantago indica L. for the time being. Catalogue of life (Plantago arenaria subsp. arenaria syn. Plantago indica L.) gives its distribution in J & K (I), while POWO considers Plantago indica L. as an accepted name with bibliography showing Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2019). Flora of North America North of Mexico 17: 1-737. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford as the latest reference.
Links of Plantago indica syn. P. arenaria:

I think it appears OK as per GBIF 



References:

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