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Plantago ovata (Plantaginaceae) is a medicinal plant cultivated extensively in Western Asia for seed husk known as blonde Psyllium or Isabgol. Taxonomy of P. ovata is controversial at both species level and variety recognition for both the Old and New World. There has been no infra-specific rank recognition for P. ovata in Iran. Therefore, we attempted to recognize the variety of P. ovata of Iran for the first time by using both morphological and molecular data. We used internal transcribed spacerregion (ITS) to estimate the level of genetic variability in P. ovata and also suggest the potential ancestral area of distribution and provide the probable time for P. ovata dispersal. We identified P. ovata variety decumbens as the P. ovata plant growing in Iran. Data obtained separated Asian Plantago plant samples from African and North American plants, due to sequence divergence. We obtained the time of the divergence for these two groups to be around 5 M years ago and RASP analysis revealed that Iran is the probable ancestral area for the occurrence of Asian Plantago.

Plantago ovata (Plantaginaceae) is a medicinal plant cultivated extensively in Western Asia for seed husk known as blonde Psyllium or Isabgol. We used ISSR molecular markers to investigate the population genetic structure and genetic divergence within P. ovata populations. We identified P. ovata variety as var. decumbens based on the morphological data. WARD tree and PCoA plot produced similar results on morphological data. AMOVA revealed a significant genetic differentiation among the studied populations. STRUCTURE analyses showed some degree of gene flow among the studied populations. NJ tree and PCoA plot of ISSR data revealed that there are at least three genetic groups within the studied populations. Though the studied populations in P. ovata are genetically differentiated, there are not qualitative morphological features for differentiating among theirs. Therefore, we consider them as ecotypes within P. ovata.

The genus Plantago L. is a cosmopolitan genus with more than 200 species and has the greatest dispersal rate in tropical and subtropical regions. The taxonomy of the genus Plantago is controversial at the section and subgenus levels. Therefore, we attempt to determine the relationships among 20 species of this genus for the first time in Iran using both morphological and molecular data. ISSR marker and morphological characteristics were used to examine relationships among different species and compare the results with different classifications. The molecular study of Plantago species showed that ISSR marker is not a good marker at the section and subgenus levels, but is a good marker at the species level and it can identify different genetic groups. Morphological study showed that according to Rahn's taxonomy, the studied species should be in 4 subgenera, but section Albicans is in need of taxonomic revision.