Plantain ~ The Wonder Weed

Plantain – Plantago major, Plantaginaceae

Description: Deep green, lily like plants found along streams, roadsides and lawns. The flowers are a yellow-green in appearance and when mature 7 inch spikes that resemble miniature cat-tails protrude from the center. The leaves are 8-10 inches long, oval to heart-shaped with a center rib. Flowering time is June -September.

Growing conditions: Very hardy. Grows in poor soil, in sun or shade. A highly adaptable plant, plantain has spread across Europe and America. Propagation is from seed carried by the wind.

Legend has it a beautiful Indian maiden spent so much of her time by a stream waiting for her lover to return that she was eventually transformed into this common plant. Indians referred to plantain as “white man’s foot,” as it seemed to follow the white settlers everywhere they went.

Plantain, although classified as a weed, has many positive uses. Crushed, fresh plantain…