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Plantago major
Also called Broadleaf plantain, White man's foot, Common Plantain, Great Plantain, Large Plantain, Plantain, Ratstail Plantain
In Singapore: Common Plantain, White-man's Foot, Cart-track-plant, 大车前 (Naturalised in Singapore)
Greater plantain is a low, rosette-forming herbaceous plant, usually perennial, found on lawns, paths and disturbed ground across much of the world. It tolerates trampling and compacted soil, so it is easy to grow in harsh or neglected spots.
Plantago major, the greater plantain, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is native to Eurasia and temperate Africa, and widely naturalised elsewhere.
Greater plantain is not closely related to the fruit also known as plantain, which is a type of banana.
Greater plantain is native to almost all of Europe (Iceland excepted), northern and central Asia, and northern and southern Africa. and has become widely naturalised elsewhere in the world.
The leaves are edible and can be used to stop bleeding, soothe burns and insect bites. The mature plant contains pliable and tough fibres that can be used in survival situations to make small cords, fishing line, sutures, or braiding. Some cultivars are planted as ornamentals in gardens, including 'Rubrifolia' with purple leaves, and 'Variegata' with variegated leaves. The leaves are edible as a salad green when young and tender, but they quickly become tough and fibrous as they get older. The older leaves can be cooked in stews. The seeds are so small that they are tedious to gather, but they can be ground into a flour substitute or extender.
Chinese Plantain · Buckhorn plantain · Dotseed plantain · Branched Plantain · Ribwort Plantain · Goose tongue · Hoary Plantain · Desert Indianwheat · Plantain
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Plantago major 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.
