Plantago coronopus 

'Buck's-Horn Plantain'

[Ex. Marsden, South Shields, England]

Plantaginaceae: downy, greyish-green perennial to 15cm, of grassland, disturbed ground and rocky sites, mainly near the sea. The flowers are 2mm across, with a brownish corolla and yellow stamens, all set in slender spikes, appearing from May-July. The leaves are about 20cm long, pinnately divided. Widespread and common around the coasts of Britain and Ireland, can also be found inland in South East England. Native range is from Sweden to North Africa, and across to Western Asia.

USES:

The young leaves can be raw or cooked, and is one of the nicer tasting members of this genus, the leaves are fairly tender and have a slight bitterness. Some people blanch the leaves in boiling water for a few seconds before using them in salads in order to make them tenderer. This leaf is one of the ingredients of 'misticanze', a salad mixture of wild and cultivated leaves that originated in the Marche region of Italy.

The leaves have antiperiodic and ophthalmic properties. They are used as a remedy for ague and sore eyes. Plantain seeds contain up to 30% mucilage which swells up in the gut, acting as a bulk laxative and soothing irritated membranes. Sometimes the seed husks are used without the seeds.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in a sunny position. Sow seeds in spring in a cold frame or greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in early summer.

HARVESTED: 2020

APPROX 200+ SEEDS