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Plantago
Also called Plantains, Indianwheat
Plantago is a genus of about 200 species of herbs and a few subshrubs in the Plantaginaceae family, including the common broad-leaved and narrow-leaved plantains that grow as weeds worldwide. Most are hardy, low-growing plants that tolerate poor, disturbed ground.
Plantago is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a few are subshrubs growing to 60 centimetres (24 inches) tall.
The species are found all over the world, including the Americas, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and Europe. Many species in the genus are cosmopolitan weeds. They are found in many different habitats, most commonly in wet areas like seepages or bogs. They can also be found in alpine and semi-alpine or coastal areas. The cosmopolitan weeds can be frequently seen at the side of roads.
Plantain has been consumed as human food since prehistory. For example, archaeological recovery along California's Central Coast has demonstrated use of this species as a food since the Millingstone Horizon. The broad-leaved varieties are sometimes used as a leaf vegetable for salads, green sauce, and so on. Tender young plantain leaves can be eaten raw and older leaves can be cooked. The seeds can be cooked like rice.
Chinese Plantain · Buckhorn plantain · Dotseed plantain · Branched Plantain · Ribwort Plantain · Greater Plantain · Goose tongue · Hoary Plantain · Desert Indianwheat
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Plantago by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
