Plantago major (Common Plantain)

Plantago major

Plantago major L.

Plantago asiatica auct. non L.

Plantago halophila E.P. Bicknell

Plantago major L. ssp. intermedia (DC.) Arcang.

Plantago major L. var. asiatica auct. non (L.) Decne.

Plantago major L. var. intermedia (DC.) Pilg.

Plantago major L. var. pachyphylla Pilg.

Plantago major L. var. pilgeri Domin

Plantago major L. var. scopulorum Fr. & Broberg

Common Plantain

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Asteridae	A large class that encompasses asters
Order	Lamiales	Aromatic herbs and shrubs, including lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, ash, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, mint, basil, and rosemary
Family	Plantaginaceae	Plantains
Genus	Plantago	From Latin plantago, “footprint,” since plantains popped up where European settlers walked
Species	major	“Major” or most important

About plant names...

This native of much of Europe and Asia has since spread worldwide, where it is a very common weed. Native americans, observing it for the first time after Europeans came to the Americas, called it “white man’s footprint” or “Englishman’s foot.”

Identification: Plants have a rosette of low-lying oval leaves, each 1¾-8" (5-20 cm) long and 1½-3½" (4-9 cm) wide. It produces stalks 6-18" (15-45 cm) tall, with inconspicuous greenish white flowers along the entire length. The tall stalks are the most noticeable feature of the plant. The flowers become small green seedpods about ⅛" (3.2 mm) long, containing 10-20 tiny seeds. Plantain grows in virtually any soil, inhabiting spaces no sensible plant would dare approach, such as heavily trodden sand parking lots.

Edibility: The young leaves are edible. Remove the fibrous strands before using them on salads. Blanching (brief immersion in boiling water) softens them a bit.

Online References:

Plantago major on kingdomPlantae.net

Plantago major on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Plantago major on ipm.ucanr.edu

Plantago major on Wikipedia

Plantago major on Vascular Plants of the Gila Wilderness

Plantago major at the Oregon Flora Image Project

Plantago major on the Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide

Plantago major on SEINet—the Southwest Environmental Information Network

Plantago major on eFloras