Plantago major L.
Common plantain
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.”
Plants: Common weeds, with a rosette of low-lying leaves and stalks 6–18″ (15–45 cm) tall, the most noticeable feature of the plant.
Leaves: A basal rosette 6–12″ (15–30 cm) in diameter, of oval leaves, each 1¾–8 ⨉ 1½–3½″ (5–20 ⨉ 4–9 cm). Each leaf has smooth edges, a wrinkly texture, and a petiole almost as long as the leaf.
Flowers: Roughly the top two thirds of each stalk is covered with tightly spaced inconspicuous greenish brown flowers with tiny purple stamens.
Fruits: The flowers become small green seedpods about ⅛″ (3.2 mm) long, drying to brown, each containing 10-20 tiny seeds. A single plant can produce up to 20,000 wind-distributed seeds.
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.
Habitats: Plantain grows in virtually any sandy soil, inhabiting spaces no sensible plant would dare approach, such as heavily trodden sand parking lots.
Online References:
7/28/2009 · Near Nashua River Boat Ramp, Groton, Massachusetts 
8/24/2023 · Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine 
6/22/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 5″ (9.2 × 13 cm) 
8/1/2009 · Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, Maine · ≈ 1 × 1½′ (34 × 46 cm) 
6/1/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Massachusetts 
7/29/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (43 × 41 cm) 
Located beside saltwater, this may be the intermedia subspecies. · 9/18/2016 · Deer Isle, at Water’s Edge 
Located beside saltwater, this may be the intermedia subspecies. · 9/18/2016 · Deer Isle, at Water’s Edge 
9/10/2014 · Acton Arboretum, Acton, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 8″ (14 × 20 cm) 
8/22/2023 · Schiller Coastal Studies Center, Orr’s Island, Maine · ≈ 4 × 6″ (11 × 16 cm) 
6/26/2024 · Morse Mountain, Phippsburg, Maine 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| 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 |
Plantago major description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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