Plantaginaceae FAMILY

Plantago lanceolata

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

3/5

Safety & Hazards

Care should be exercised when collecting the plant from the wild for medicinal purposes, since they may contain high concentrations of heavy metals such as lead and cadmium where they grow along roads[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Botanical Description

Plantago lanceolata is a biennial to perennial plant producing a dense basal rosette of leaves from a thick rhizome. It can grow 10 - 60cm tall. The plant can sometimes become annual and complete its life-cycle in 6 weeks in the tropics[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. , 372 Title Flowers of India Publication Author Website http://www.flowersofindia.net/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A wed site of native Indian plants, plus cultivated and naturalized species. It has good quality photos and terse details on more than 3,000 species and cultivars. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials. The seeds readily adhere to animals or people, which promotes dispersal. They can also be transported by water. The plant is a common weed of cultivated land and grassland in the temperate to subtropical regions, also spreading into the tropics, where it is mainly found at moderate to higher elevations[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. , 305 Title Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk Publication Author Website http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate; tropical

Native RangeEurope, including Britain, from Iceland south and east to Spain, northern and central Asia

HabitatGrassland, roadsides etc, a common weed of lawns and cultivated ground, on neutral and basic soils[ 9 Title Edible and Medicinal Plants. Publication Author Launert. E. Publisher Hamlyn Year 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2 Description Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information. , 17 Title Flora of the British Isles. Publication Author Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. Publisher Cambridge University Press Year 1962 ISBN - Description A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures. ].