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Plantago media

Common name:	Hoary Plantain	Family:	Plantaginaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Southern Europe, including Britain, to temperate Asia.
Habitat:	Fields, meadows and lawns[7]. A common weed of lawns and cultivated land, especially on dry or calcareous soils[1].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	P. media var. monnieri[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Hoary Plantain [P,H,L,B], Llanten Mediano [E], Plantago [E], Ruige Weegbree [D],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	media = intermediate;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Plantaginales. Plantain family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Iran; Spain

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.1m by 0.1m . It is hardy to zone 6 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to August, and the seeds ripen from July to September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind, flies, beetles and bees. The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Meadow, Lawn.

Edible Uses

Flowers; Leaves.

Young leaves - raw or cooked[7]. The very young leaves have a fairly mild flavour but with a slight bitterness[K]. Used in salads before they become tough[7].
The inflorescence is sweet and is sucked by children[177, 183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent; Demulcent; Deobstruent; Depurative; Diuretic; Expectorant; Haemostatic; Laxative; Odontalgic; Ophthalmic; Refrigerant.

The leaves, flowering stems and roots are somewhat astringent, deobstruent, depurative, diuretic, expectorant, haemostatic, refrigerant and vulnerary[4, 7]. They are applied externally to skin inflammations, malignant ulcers, cuts etc[4, 7]. A mouthwash made from the leaves helps to relieve toothache and a distilled water is a good eyewash[7].
The seeds are demulcent and laxative[4, 7].
Plantain seeds contain up to 30% mucilage which swells up in the gut, acting as a bulk laxative and soothing irritated membranes[238]. Sometimes the seed husks are used without the seeds[238].

Other Uses

Fungicide.

The leaves are a cure for blight on fruit trees[14].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in a sunny position[200].
Grows well in the spring meadow[24].
An important food plant for the caterpillars of many species of butterflies[30].
The flowers are sweetly scented[245].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in early summer.
A sowing can be made outdoors in situ in mid to late spring if you have enough seeds.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers are sweetly scented[245].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

The Edible Lawn

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for plantago media (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Plantaginaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[14] Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press 1979 ISBN 0-87857-262-7
A good herbal.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.

[30] Carter D. Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe. Pan 1982 ISBN 0-330-26642-x
An excellent book on Lepidoptera, it also lists their favourite food plants.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

Edible Wild Plants For Tortoises

Linda King Sat Aug 18 18:20:37 2001

http://www.tlady.clara.net/TortGuide/Diet.htm

Please go to my main Diet page and click on the Plant List link at the top. This is a new section of my Tortoise Care website, and is an illustrated Edible Wild Plants list for tortoise keepers in the UK. Click on the Latin names to see the illustrations which are all original work. The information with the illustrations would be equally applicable to iguanas and herbivorous mammals.

Details of Growing Condition: UK.

Cross references: Plants: Taraxacum officinale , Leontodon, Hypochoeris , Crepis biennis, Crepis capillaris , Lapsana communis , Cichorium intybus , Sonchus oleraceus , Plantago major, Plantago lanceotata , Malva sylvestris, Malva neglecta, Malva moschata , Capsella bursa-pastoris , Cardamine hirsuta, Cardamine flexuosa , Trifolium repens , Trifolium pratense , Vicia sativa , Vicia sepium , Vicia cracca , Onobrychis sativa , Campanula rapunculoides , Convolvulus, Calystegia , Sedum album , Sisymbrium officinale .

Main Search Page

Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Plantago+media
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Plantago+media

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