This plant is native to Europe and parts of Asia, but has readily naturalized in other areas. This US non-native is one I have come to appreciate. A visitor once pointed out how good this plant is medicinally. I will still yank them out of places I do not want them, but in areas like the lawn, I just leave them alone.

When the growth is fairly new, I use it in my homegrown salads along with garden lettuce, chickweed, and lamb's quarter. I also collect and dry the nicer leaves before the plants develop their flowers. I use this to wrap around cuts and burns as this helps with the pain after simmering in water.

In a pinch, I've taken a fresh leaf, smashed it to bruise it a little, and had a child wrap it around his finger where he had a minor cut. He went from tears to no pain in a matter of minutes. Maybe it was more of a placebo effect, but I had a happy boy. When the wounds are more extensive, I do not rely on the plantain only. They are first cleaned out and the bleeding is stopped. We strive for natural means, yet if something is beyond our means, we will go to a doctor. We are blessed to not have to do this often.

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Honey bees get pollen from this plant.

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This is a European species very similar to the native eastern North American Blackseed plantain (Plantago rugelii) . According to Minnesota Wildflowers, the native can be distinguished from the European species by purple bases to the leaf stalks and by more elongated seed pods. Illinois Wildflowers mentions that the seed pods on the native species split open at the bottom, while the seed pods on the European species split open in the middle. The leaves (both leaf stems and blade) on the native are sometimes longer, up to 14 inches instead of 11 inches, but that's rare when the plants are growing in a regularly mown lawn.

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