Plantago major

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Plantago major
Grote weegbree bloeiwijze Plantago major subsp. major.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Plantaginaceae
Genus: Plantago
Species:
P. major
Binomial name
Plantago major
L.

Plantago major, the broadleaf plantain, white man's footprint, waybread, or greater plantain, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. The plant is native to Eurasia.

Contents

The young, tender leaves can be eaten raw, and the older, stringier leaves can be boiled in stews and eaten.

Description

Broadleaf plantain spike Broadleaf Plantain Spike.jpg
Broadleaf plantain spike

Plantago major is a herbaceous, perennial plant with a rosette of leaves 15–30 centimetres (6–12 inches) in diameter. [2] [3] Each leaf is oval-shaped, 5–20 cm (2–8 in) long [4] and 4–9 cm (1+1⁄2–3+1⁄2 in) broad, rarely up to 30 cm (12 in) long and 17 cm (7 in) broad, with an acute apex, a smooth margin, and a distinct petiole almost as long as the leaf itself. There are five to nine conspicuous veins over the length of the leaf. [5] The flowers are small, greenish-brown with purple stamens, produced in a dense spike 5–15 cm (2–6 in) long on top of a stem 13–15 cm (5–6 in) tall and rarely to 70 cm (28 in) tall. [2] [3]

Plantain is wind-pollinated and propagates primarily by seeds, which are held on the long, narrow spikes which rise well above the foliage. [3] [6] Each plant can produce up to 20,000 seeds, which are very small and oval-shaped, with a bitter taste. [7]

Taxonomy

Broadleaf plantain is not closely related to the fruit also known as plantain, which is a kind of banana.

There are three subspecies: [8]

Distribution and habitat

The plant is native to most of Europe and northern and central Asia, [9] [8] [2] but has widely naturalised elsewhere in the world. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Plantago major grows in lawns and fields, along roadsides, and in other areas that have been disturbed by humans. It does particularly well in compacted or disturbed soils. It is believed to be one of the first plants to reach North America after European colonisation. Reportedly brought to the Americas by Puritan colonizers, plantain was known among some Native American peoples by the common name "white man's footprint", because it thrived in the disturbed and damaged ecosystems surrounding European settlements. [14] The ability of plantain to survive frequent trampling and colonize compacted soils makes it important for soil rehabilitation. Its roots break up hardpan surfaces, while simultaneously holding together the soil to prevent erosion. [15]

The seeds of plantain are a common contaminant in cereal grain and other crop seeds. As a result, it now has a worldwide distribution. [10]

Uses

The mature plant contains pliable and tough fibres that can be used in survival situations to make small cords, fishing line, sutures, or braiding. [16]

Some cultivars are planted as ornamentals in gardens, including 'Rubrifolia' with purple leaves, and 'Variegata' with variegated leaves. [17]

Edibility

The leaves are edible as a salad green when young and tender, but they quickly become tough and fibrous as they get older. The older leaves can be cooked in stews. [18] The leaves contain calcium and other minerals, and 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of plantain contain approximately the same amount of beta-carotene as a large carrot. The seeds are so small that they are tedious to gather, but they can be ground into a flour substitute or extender. [19]

Herbal medicine

Plantain contains phytochemicals including allantoin, aucubin, ursolic acid, flavonoids, and asperuloside. [20] [21] [22] Plantain extract has been studied for its potential health effects. [7]

Plantain leaves were used commonly in folk medicine for skin poultices on wounds, sores, or insect stings. [23] [24] The root was used for fever and respiratory infections. [20] [25]

Related Research Articles

<i>Plantago</i> Genus of flowering plants

Plantago is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a few are subshrubs growing to 60 centimetres tall.

<i>Matricaria discoidea</i> Species of flowering plant

Matricaria discoidea, commonly known as pineappleweed, wild chamomile, disc mayweed, and rayless mayweed, is an annual plant native to North America and introduced to Eurasia where it grows as a common herb of fields, gardens, and roadsides. It is in the daisy family Asteraceae. The flowers exude a chamomile/pineapple aroma when crushed. They are edible and have been used in salads and to make herbal tea.

<i>Allium ursinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae

Allium ursinum, known as wild garlic, ramsons, cowleekes, cows's leek, cowleek, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, Eurasian wild garlic or bear's garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it grows in moist woodland. It is a wild relative of onion and garlic, all belonging to the same genus, Allium. There are two recognized subspecies: A. ursinum subsp. ursinum and A. ursinum subsp. ucrainicum.

<i>Artemisia tridentata</i> Species of plant

Artemisia tridentata, commonly called big sagebrush, Great Basin sagebrush or simply sagebrush, is an aromatic shrub from the family Asteraceae.

<i>Chamaenerion angustifolium</i> Species of flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae

Chamaenerion angustifolium is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae. It is known in North America as fireweed and in the British Isles as rosebay willowherb. It is also known by the synonyms Chamerion angustifolium and Epilobium angustifolium. It is native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere, including large parts of the boreal forests.

<i>Alisma plantago-aquatica</i> Species of plant

Alisma plantago-aquatica, also known as European water-plantain, common water-plantain or mad-dog weed, is a perennial flowering aquatic plant widespread across most of Europe and Asia, and apparently spread elsewhere in both the Old and New World.

<i>Arctostaphylos uva-ursi</i> Species of fruit and plant

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a plant species of the genus Arctostaphylos widely distributed across circumboreal regions of the subarctic Northern Hemisphere. Kinnikinnick is a common name in Canada and the United States. Growing up to 30 centimetres in height, the leaves are evergreen. The flowers are white to pink and the fruit is a red berry.

<i>Plantago lanceolata</i> Species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae

Plantago lanceolata is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is known by the common names ribwort plantain, narrowleaf plantain, English plantain, ribleaf, lamb's tongue, and buckhorn. It is a common weed on cultivated or disturbed land.

<i>Maianthemum racemosum</i> Species of flowering plant

Maianthemum racemosum, the treacleberry, feathery false lily of the valley, false Solomon's seal, Solomon's plume or false spikenard, is a species of flowering plant native to North America. It is a common, widespread plant with numerous common names and synonyms, known from every US state except Hawaii, and from every Canadian province and territory, as well as from Mexico.

<i>Actaea pachypoda</i> Species of plant

Actaea pachypoda, the white baneberry or doll's-eyes, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Actaea, of the family Ranunculaceae.

<i>Frangula purshiana</i> Species of buckhorn shrub

Frangula purshiana is a species of plant in the family Rhamnaceae. It is native to western North America from southern British Columbia south to central California, and eastward to northwestern Montana.

<i>Plantago media</i> Species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae

Plantago media, known as the hoary plantain, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is native to central and western Europe, including Great Britain and introduced to parts of the north-east United States. Its generic name is derived from the Latin for sole; like other members of the genus Plantago, it should not be confused with the unrelated plantain, a starchy banana.

<i>Plantago asiatica</i> Species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae

Plantago asiatica, is a self-fertile, perennial species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is native to East Asia. It grows well in disturbed areas such as roadsides or even dirt roads. It is valued for its use in folk medicine and it also can be used in cooking.

<i>Plantago maritima</i> Species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae

Plantago maritima, the sea plantain, seaside plantain or goose tongue, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It has a subcosmopolitan distribution in temperate and Arctic regions, native to most of Europe, northwest Africa, northern and central Asia, northern North America, and southern South America.

<i>Prunella vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Prunella vulgaris, the common self-heal, heal-all, woundwort, heart-of-the-earth, carpenter's herb, brownwort or blue curls, is an herbaceous plant in the mint family Lamiaceae.

<i>Galium aparine</i> Species of flowering plant

Galium aparine, with common names including cleavers, clivers, catchweed, robin-run-the-hedge, goosegrass,and sticky willy, is an annual, herbaceous plant of the family Rubiaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dianethole</span> Chemical compound

Dianethole is a naturally occurring organic compound that is found in anise and fennel. It is a dimeric polymer of anethole. It has estrogenic activity, and along with anethole and photoanethole, may be responsible for the estrogenic effects of anise and fennel. These compounds bear resemblance to the estrogens stilbene and diethylstilbestrol, which may explain their estrogenic activity. In fact, it is said that diethylstilbestrol and related drugs were originally modeled after dianethole and photoanethole.

<i>Vigna vexillata</i> Species of legume

Vigna vexillata, the Zombi pea or wild cowpea, is a variable, perennial climbing plant that is pantropical, found in regions such as Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Venezuela.

<i>Plantago indica</i> Species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae

Plantago indica, commonly known as branched plantain, sand plantain, or black psyllium, is a flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, and is one of a few species in the Plantago genus under the common name psyllium. The plant is native to parts of Africa, Europe, Russia, and Asia, and has been naturalized in many other areas such as Australia and North America. The plant can be found mostly in dry inland areas, such as those that are sandy, and has also naturalized on roadsides and in meadows. The plant is not used broadly as a food source, but has been cultivated for its seeds which serve a medicinal use as a laxative.

References

  1. ↑ Maiz-Tome, L. (2016). "Plantago major". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T168960A1257878. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T168960A1257878.en . Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Flora of Pakistan: Plantago major
  3. 1 2 3 Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. ISBN   0-340-40170-2 [ page needed ]
  4. ↑ Elias, Thomas S.; Dykeman, Peter A. (2009) [1982]. Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods. New York: Sterling. p. 79. ISBN   978-1-4027-6715-9. OCLC   244766414.
  5. ↑ Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. Webb's An Irish Flora. Cork University Press. ISBN   978-185918-4783
  6. ↑ Sauer, Leslie Jones (1998). The Once and Future Forest. Island Press. p. 49. ISBN   978-1-55963-553-0.[ verification needed ]
  7. 1 2 Samuelsen, Anne Berit (July 2000). "The traditional uses, chemical constituents and biological activities of Plantago major L. A review". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 77 (1–2): 1–21. doi:10.1016/S0378-8741(00)00212-9. ISSN   0378-8741. PMC   7142308 . PMID   10904143.
  8. 1 2 Flora Europaea: Plantago major
  9. 1 2 Natural History Museum: Plantago major
  10. 1 2 "Plantago major". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  11. ↑ As a result, Plantago major has many common names. In addition to "broadleaf plantain" and "greater plantain", other common names include: common plantain, broad-leaved plantain, cart track plant, dooryard plantain, greater plantago, healing blade, hen plant, lambs foot, roadweed, roundleaf plantain, snakeroot, waybread, wayside plantain, and white man's foot prints. -- Britton, Nathaniel Lord; Addison Brown (1913). An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Volume 3 (second ed.). Dover Publications, inc. p. 245.
  12. ↑ Joint Nature Conservation Committee: Greater Plantain Plantago major Linnaeus
  13. ↑ Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland Database Archived 2007-08-08 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Duke, James (2001). Handbook of Edible Weeds. CRC Press. p. 150. ISBN   9780849329463.
  15. ↑ Tilford, Gregory L.; Gladstar, Rosemary (1998). From Earth to Herbalist: An Earth-Conscious Guide to Medicinal Plants. Mountain Press. p. 163. ISBN   9780878423729.
  16. ↑ Tilford, Gregory L. (1997). Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West. Mountain Press. p. 112. ISBN   9780878423590.
  17. ↑ Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. ISBN   0-333-47494-5
  18. ↑ Scott, Timothy Lee; Buhner, Steven Harrod (2010). Invasive Plant Medicine: The Ecological Benefits and Healing Abilities of Invasives. Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. p. 253. ISBN   9781594773051.
  19. ↑ Vizgirdas, Ray S.; Rey-Vizgirdas, Edna (2005). Wild Plants Of The Sierra Nevada. University of Nevada Press. pp. 148–149. ISBN   9780874175356.
  20. 1 2 "Plantago". Drugs.com. 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-04-18.
  21. ↑ Duke, James A. (2001). "Plantago major". Handbook of Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants. CRC Press. p. 471. ISBN   9780849338656.
  22. ↑ Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (2005). A Guide to Medicinal Plants in North Africa. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). p. 190. ISBN   9782831708935.
  23. ↑ Duke, James (2001). Handbook of Edible Weeds. CRC Press. p. 151. ISBN   9780849329463.
  24. ↑ Green, James (2000). The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook: A Home Manual. Chelsea Green Publishing. pp. 314–315. ISBN   9780895949905.
  25. ↑ Foster, Steven; Hobbs, Christopher (2002). A Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 224. ISBN   9780395838068.
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