Plantago major L.

Standardized Common Name: Plantain

Other Common Names: Broad-Leaf Plantain, Common Plantain

Family: Plantaginaceae

Taxonomy: The genus Plantago includes over 200 species, distributed worldwide. Plantago major is variable enough that some early authorities divided it into two to four species, and numerous infraspecific forms were named. There are two widely distributed subspecies: subsp. major probably makes up a sizeable majority of the material used medicinally, while subsp. intermedia (DC.) Arcangeli (also known as subsp. pleiosperma Pilger) is largely confined to damp and often saline habitats.

Description: Perennial herb with leaves in a basal rosette; multiple rosettes may be produced in plants over 1 year old. Leaves 5–30(–40) cm long, long-petioled; blade ovate to elliptical; base subcordate to tapering; apex broadly acute to rounded; margins entire or irregularly dentate to sinuate, especially near base; main veins (3–)5–9. Inflorescences spicate, borne on basal scapes, 1–50 cm long, dense, bracteate. Flowers green, 2–3 mm long; sepals 4; petals 4, fused, dry, pale; stamens 4, basally fused to corolla, protruding much beyond corolla; ovary 2-locular. Fruit a circumscissile capsule; seeds (4–)6–20(–34), 1.0–1.7 mm long.

Parts in Commerce: Leaves

Identification:

• Leaf blade ovate to elliptical or broadly elliptical, 2–22 cm long
• Leaves petiolate; petioles broad, flattened; petiole length sometimes equalling or exceeding blade length
• Primary veins arcuate (curving and running parallel from base to apex), usually 5–9 in larger leaves, rarely 3, raised and pale on lower surface
• Base subcordate to truncate, rounded or tapering
• Apex broadly acute to obtuse, often with a rounded tip, to rounded
• Margins entire or slightly wavy to irregularly dentate, especially near base, with teeth few and usually shallow or rounded
• Hairs short, pale, present mostly on lower surface, giving leaf a rough texture
• Fresh leaves somewhat thick
• Taste mucilaginous, salty, bitter or acrid

Plantago lanceolata L.: Leaves of over half a dozen species of Plantago are used commercially in the U.S. or Europe; after P. major, P. lanceolata (English Plantain, also known as Narrow-Leaf Plantain) is one of the most common. Its leaves, which are quite variable, are quite different from those of P. major:

• Leaves linear to lanceolate, the blades to 25 cm long but 0.3–2.0(–4.0) cm broad
• Main veins 3 or 5, rarely 7
• Petiole narrow, long or nearly absent, longitudinally ridged, sometimes sparsely pubescent with very long soft hairs
• Base tapering gradually into petiole
• Apex narrowly acute, sometimes with a small abruptly narrowed point
• Margins usually entire, occasionally with few minute inconspicuous teeth
• Pubescent with long wispy hairs mostly confined to veins beneath, or glabrous, or softly pubescent throughout

Digitalis lanata Ehrh.: This weedy species, which contains toxic cardiac glycosides, has been found as an adulterant of cultivated P. lanceolata. It should be easily distinguished by the following features:

• Most leaves sessile; basal leaves have short petiole formed by tapering base, with wings of blade tissue, sometimes ciliate
• Venation pinnate with secondary veins irregular and much weaker than midrib; midrib often purplish beneath
• Glabrous or sparsely pubescent, smooth-textured; margins sometimes ciliate
• Both surfaces have a beaded, often glistening appearance under high magnification
• Taste probably bitter

References:

Chater AO, Cartier D. Plantago. In: Tutin TG, Heywood VH, Burges NA, et al., eds. Flora Europaea. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1976:38–44.

Fernald ML. Gray’s Manual of Botany, 8^th ed. New York: American Book Company; 1950:1313–1318.

Lambinon J. Le problème de la variabilité de Plantago major L. en Corse. Candollea. 1991;46:210–217.

Mølgaard P. Plantago major ssp. major and ssp. pleiosperma. Morphology, biology and ecology in Denmark. Bot Tidsskr. 1976;71:31–56.

Rahn K. Nomenclatorial changes within the genus Plantago L., infraspecific taxa and subdivisions of the genus. Bot Tidsskr. 1978;73:106–111.

Rahn K. A phylogenetic study of the Plantaginaceae. Bot J Linn Soc. 1996;120:145–198.

Wichtl M, ed. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals, 3^rd English ed. Stuttgart: medpharm Scientific Publishers and Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2004:456–459.

Figure 57: a, Plantago major leaf; b–c, P. lanceolata leaf and close-up; d–e, Digitalis lanata leaf and close-up.