The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Plantago lanceolata
Also called English Plantain, Narrow Leaf Plantain, Narrowleaf Plantain, Ribgrass, Narrow Leaved Plantain, Buckhorn Plantain, Ribwort
Ribwort plantain is a low, rosette-forming perennial weed of disturbed ground, lawns and roadsides, with narrow ribbed leaves and small flowers on tall spikes. It is grown mainly as a herb or forage plant and is easy to establish in open, sunny spots.
Plantago lanceolata is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is known by the common names ribwort plantain, narrowleaf plantain, English plantain, ribleaf, lamb's tongue, and buckhorn. It is a common weed on cultivated or disturbed land.
Plantago lanceolata is native to Europe and western Asia and is common across this range, including in Britain. It is widespread throughout the British Isles, but scarce on the most acidic soils (pH < 4.5). It has been introduced elsewhere in the world, including North America, Oceania and Japan at least 200 years ago and South Africa and Chile 150 years ago.
Plantago lanceolata is used frequently in herbal teas and other herbal remedies. A tea from the leaves is used as a cough medicine. In traditional Austrian medicine, the leaves have been used internally (as syrup or tea) or externally (fresh leaves) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, insect bites, and infections. The leaves can be eaten when very young. The flower buds have a mushroom-like flavour and can be used to make stock.
Chinese Plantain · Buckhorn plantain · Dotseed plantain · Branched Plantain · Greater Plantain · Goose tongue · Hoary Plantain · Desert Indianwheat · Plantain
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Plantago lanceolata 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.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
