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Plantago media
Hoary plantain is a low, rosette-forming perennial wildflower of damp meadows and chalky grassland in Europe and Asia. It is grown mainly as a wild or edible plant rather than an ornamental, and it thrives in moist, lime-rich soil in full sun to part shade.
Plantago media, known as the hoary plantain, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is native to central and western Europe, including Great Britain and introduced to parts of the north-east United States. Its generic name is derived from the Latin for sole; like other members of the genus Plantago, it should not be confused with the unrelated plantain, a starchy banana.
Plantago media is native to Eurasia. It is native to eastern England, but scarce in Scotland and Ireland. It is calcicole, characteristic of soils on chalk or limestone, growing in grassland, meadows, lawns and waste places.
The plant is edible. Archeological finds testify to its use during the Roman era in Britain.
Chinese Plantain · Buckhorn plantain · Dotseed plantain · Branched Plantain · Ribwort Plantain · Greater Plantain · Goose tongue · Desert Indianwheat · Plantain
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Plantago media 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.
