Plantain

Common name: Long leaf plantain, ribwort

Botanical name: Plantago lanceolata

Botanical family: Plantaginaceae

Cultivation

Plantain often grows in lawns and on roadsides. It is perennial and very hardy. It is called a “weed” by many, but is a wonderful medicinal plant.

How does it do here in Central Otago? It grows well especially in spring. It definitely benefits from spring rain where it grows lush and tall. Later in summer, it can get oidium.

Traditional medicinal uses

Its affinities are with the skin, the upper respiratory system, the urinary tract and the digestive system.

It is a soothing herb thanks to its mucilaginous constituents.

It is antihistamic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic.

How to use it?

Part used: the leaves, preferably before the plant flowers, the seed head.

Personally, I use it fresh all year around.

It can be used fresh in salad and pesto, as a poultice, cooked in stir fries, wilted in oil, dried in tea.

The seed head can be eaten fresh, it tastes like mushroom.

If you get stung by a bee or by some nettle, chew a plantain leaf and apply it on the sting like a poultice, it will help to soothe the sting almost immediately.

Mythology/Folklore

Plantain has been called the mother of herbs and it has been used for centuries in traditional herbal medicine.