The Power of Plantain
Excerpt from a Love Letter from Plantain…
Knowing my genus Plantago helps clarify when talking about me, as there are many others with the common name of Plantain. Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus) of the Aster Family, the orchid Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia) and Tropical Plantain (Musa spp.,) famous in Latino cuisine, are some of the other plants who share my name. The edible fruit Plantain is the one I am most often confused with, so remember to differentiate me by using my botanical name, ok?
I have parallel, rib-like veins that run up and down all of my leaves and that is why I have another common name- Ribwort. These veins can cause me to be mistaken for a monocot, which I am not. I have over 200 species in my genus and have evolved worldwide, but the three most famous of my children are Plantago lanceolata, major and psyllium.
The lanceolatas, as their name bespeaks, have narrow, lance-like leaves, while the majors, also known as Common Plantain, have broad leaves that form dense rosettes and have majorly spread. This hearty species has been written about by your poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in ‘Hiawatha’
Whereso’er they tread, beneath them
Springs a flower unknown among us;
Springs the White Man’s Foot in blossom.
Plantago major seed came over to North America with the colonizers and spread as rapidly as the white man did, displacing some of the continent’s native species rugelii, aka Blackseed, that looks so very similar to major but has a purplish petiole base. The psylliums and ovatas species produce an abundance of easy to harvest seed heads that you then turn into fiber supplement products. All my parts are fibrous, actually. My entire plant body is medicinal.
