Narrowleaf plantain
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated April 2019.
Scientific name: Plantago lanceolata L.
Common name(s): narrowleaf plantain, English plantain, ribwort plantain
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- large plant in wild blueberry field
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- small plants in field adjacent to wild blueberry
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- leaf detail
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- in flower, late June
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- early flower
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- inflorescence can be variable in appearance
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- senescing flowers
Description:
-perennial
-height of 30-60 cm
-basal rosette of leaves 10-30 cm
- long linear and lanceolate
Habitat:
-open disturbed areas
-fields
-roadsides
Natural History:
-native to Eurasia
-medical uses going back to the ancient Greeks and Romans treating
- herpes
- skin infections
- rabies
- anti-inflammatory
Sources:
Bajer, T., Bajer, T., Janda, V., Janda, V., Bajerová, P., Bajerová, P., . . . Ventura, K. (2016;2015;). Chemical composition of essential oils from plantago lanceolata L. leaves extracted by hydrodistillation. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 53(3), 1576-1584. doi:10.1007/s13197-015-2083-x