WILD CHILD: I Spy Plantain

Have you ever wished you knew just a little more about the plant and animal life you see when you head outside? Even experts started learning with just one plant.

This week see if you can spot plantain (not the banana shaped produce from the grocery isle, but the small green leaved weed found throughout our city).

Broad and Narrow Leaf Plantain

You will probably find broad or narrow lead plantain every time you head outside. Also known as White man’s footprint because it was brought here by settlers and seemed to pop up wherever they stepped, plantain is easy to spot.

Look for …

A green leaved plant, with leaves lying fairly flat in an overlapping circle around a single point called a basal rosette.

Stringy veins (similar to celery) that are easily seen if you gentle tear the leaf from its base.

Veins that run from base right to tip of the leaf

Flower spikes that reach straight upward with multiple tiny flowers that later become multiple oval shaped seeds.

Broad leafed plantain (pictured) has a wide leaf, narrow leafed plantain has a narrower leaf.

Find it…

Plantain will grow in any sunny space, especially if it’s recently disturbed. Look for it in meadows, fields, lawns, and gardens. It is a perennial, which means it keeps growing year after year. Look for it as soon as the snow melts and expect to see it until snow covers the ground again.

Uses

Plantain is considered an edible and medicinal plant. Many foragers use the young leaves in salads and stews. It has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties and can be used to make a salve for mild scrapes, burns, and irritations. In our programs it is most frequently used as a spit-salve for itchy mosquito bites.

Always make sure that you are certain of the plant that you are using and you know how it should be used and prepared before eating or using it on yourself or your child.

For more information check out the Canadian Wildlife Federations information sheet on Plantain or attend one of our 3 weekly playgroups and ask a facilitator to show you.

Written by Tandy Morton, Wild Child Outdoor Playgroup facilitator

Written by Tandy Morton, WILD CHILD Playgroup Facilitator