Esparzeh

Esparzeh”, is a genus from the Plantaginaceae family, which has been identified intraditional Iranian medicine as a plant with different seed colors including white, red and,black, and different names like “Esfarzeh”, “Aspghul”, “Asphiush”, “Ghatouna” and“Bangou”. In this paper, we attempted to determine the suitable scientific name(s) forEsparzeh according to its characteristics described in traditional manuscripts. Resultsshowed that characteristics mentioned in traditional manuscripts for Esparzeh match withtwo endemic and prevalent species of Plantago in Iran, P. ovata Forssk. and P. psyllium L.,and can be individualized by the suggested names, “Esparzeh” for P. ovata Forssk. and“Esparzeh barhangi” for P. psyllium L.