Foothills, montane. Openings. Spring to early summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, July 2, 2008.

Flower stalks can grow up to sixteen inches tall on this Plantago.  It is normally found in alkaline meadows at lower elevations in all Rocky Mountain states.  Leaves are basal and have red wooly hairs at their base, hence the name "eriopoda", "wooly foot".  

Linnaeus named this genus in 1753 and John Torrey named this species in 1827 from a specimen collected by Edwin James along the Platte River.

Foothills, montane. Openings. Spring to early summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, July 2, 2008.

Foothills, montane. Openings. Spring to early summer.
Lone Mesa State Park, July 2, 2008.

This photograph shows a small portion of a ten by ten foot area covered with basal rosettes.