RIBWORT PLANTAIN |
PLANTAGO LANCEOLATA |
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| Fig 1 |
DESCRIPTION: Height up to 40cm. This common wayside plant is a rosette-forming perennial herb that have long, narrow lanceolate leaves that are longitudinally ribbed. The hairy grooved stem arises from the rosette and sports a stubby brown inforesence that gives rises to many flowers. Each flower can produce up to 200 seeds. DISTRIBUTION: A widespread plant through the UK. HABITAT: A ubiquitous plant found as a coloniser of disturbed ground as well as fields, lawns, meadows, roadsides, waste ground, parks and sand dunes. FLOWERING TIME: April to October. EXTRA NOTES: This plant has long been used as a medicinal herb and can even be used as a antihistamine when treating Nettle stings. The leaves are used in herbal teas as a remedy for coughs, hay fever and asthma, they can also be used to make a soothing cream to treat sores and insect bites. This plant is a rosette forming perennial with a fibrous root system. This plant has many local names including Rib-Leaf, Lamb's-Tongue and Buckhorn. |