Wonderful Weeds: Plantain

I’ve always loved plantain, so much so that as a girl, I wrote a poem about a plantain I found on my walk home from school along the Ipswich bypass. I found it a humble yet beautiful plant. So I was more than delighted when one popped up in our clover patch. The bees agree. They are filling their pollen sacs with white plantain pollen.

This is ribwort plantain or buckhorn, plantago lanceolata, a common lawn weed and not a Colorado native. However, it isn’t invasive either. As a girl it was the beauty of the plant that fascinated me. I now know that it is edible and medicinal and was used by both my Anglo-Saxon and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors. I grew up using dock leaves for nettle stings, but plantain leaf is also excellent as an external remedy for wounds, bites and stings. According to my new favourite book, Ashkenazi Herbalism by Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel, my ancestors used plantain infusion for menorrhagia and post partum bleeding. They even used it for tuberculosis, something we find in Persian medicine as well. Indeed, plantain is generally good for the lungs and can be used as an infusion for asthma and upper respiratory tract infections.

Plantain contains several important phytochemicals including allantoin, which plays a a part in its skin-soothing properties. The iridoid glycoside aucubin, a very important bitter substance, is antioxidant, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-fibrotic, anti-cancer, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective and osteoprotective, accounting for some of the surprisingly powerful effects of this humble herb. In addition, it contains another iridoid glycoside, asperuloside, an anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity compound. Antioxidant flavonoids add to the mix. We should be proud of our ancestors for discovering the benefits of this lowly plant.

  Alakananda Ma M.B., B.S. (Lond.) is an Ayurvedic Doctor (NAMA) and graduate of a top London medical school. She is co-founder of Alandi Ayurveda Clinic and Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula in Boulder Colorado, as well as a spiritual mother, teacher, flower essence maker and storyteller. Alakananda is a well known and highly respected practitioner in the Ayurveda community both nationally and internationally.

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