Broadleaf Plantain

Category: medicinal-herbs

Growing

  • 📍 Zone: 3-10
  • 🌞 Sun: Full sun to partial shade
  • 💧 Water: Moderate; tolerates dry conditions once established
  • 🌱 Soil: Prefers well-drained, compacted soils but adaptable to many soil types

Planting

  • 📏 Height: 6-12 inches
  • 📏 Spacing: Can grow densely, spacing not critical for wild growth
  • 📅 When To Plant: Seeds can be sown in spring or fall; naturalizes easily
  • 🌱 Propagation: By seed; also spreads vegetatively via root fragments
  • ⬇️ Depth: Surface sow seeds lightly covered with soil
  • 🤝 Companion:
    • 0: Grasses and lawn plants (common in lawns and pastures)
    • 1: Vegetables where soil compaction is an issue (improves soil structure)
  • 🚫 Avoid Planting Near:

    Care & Maintenance

    • ✂️ Pruning: Not typically pruned; can be cut back if overgrown
    • 🪢 Staking Or Support: None required
    • ❄️ Overwintering: Perennial; survives winter and re-grows from rootstock

    Harvesting & Usage

    • ⏰ When To Harvest: Young leaves harvested in spring and early summer for best tenderness
    • ✋ How To Harvest: Pick leaves by hand or cut with scissors
    • 🥫 Preservation: Use fresh or dry leaves for later use; leaves can be powdered
    • ⚠️ Edible Or Toxic: Non-toxic and edible; young leaves used as salad greens or cooked greens
    • 🍴 Culinary: Leaves can be eaten raw in salads or cooked like spinach; seeds can be ground into flour
    • 💊 Medicinal:
      • Wound Healing: Leaves applied topically as poultices for cuts, insect bites, and minor wounds due to anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.
      • Respiratory Support: Used in teas to soothe coughs, bronchitis, and respiratory irritation.
      • Digestive Health: Traditionally used to relieve diarrhea and gastrointestinal discomfort.
      • Anti-inflammatory: Contains compounds that reduce inflammation internally and externally.
    • 🌸 Aromatic: Mild, earthy scent; not widely used for aroma

    Ecological Info

    • 🐝 Pollinators:
      • 0: Bees
      • 1: Flies
    • 🦌 Wildlife Resistance: Tolerated and eaten by some herbivores; provides forage