Plantain seeds Plantago asiatica

LATIN NAME: Plantago asiatica

COMMON NAME: Asiatic Plantain

The plantain holds its dense, cylindrical, green flower spikes above the broad, ribbed leaves, and the small, white flowers open along the spikes. The low, rosette-forming, perennial plant carries the broad, oval, long-stalked, prominently ribbed, bright-green leaves and the dense, cylindrical, green or brownish flower spikes with the small, whitish flowers and the fine, pointed bracts through the summer, one of the fine, steady sights of the wayside, holding the ground with the ease. The leaves have a very long record as the fine, soothing greens of the old practice, and the plant is a fine, historic presence of the wayside. It is a plant of the open, sunny to lightly shaded, deep, moist, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The plantain is a historic subject of the plant science, and the ribbed leaves keep showing up in the work on the wayside plants. The way the broad, oval, long-stalked, prominently ribbed leaves form the low rosettes has been studied steadily, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the wayside plants, the mucilage-rich greens and the members of the plantain family. The dense, cylindrical flower spikes and the rosette habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the plantain is a regular subject of the work on the ribbed leaves of the cool world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The plantain is a fine, steady plant of the wayside and the green verge. The broad, oval, long-stalked, prominently ribbed, bright-green leaves form the low rosettes, holding the ground with the ease, while the dense, cylindrical, green or brownish flower spikes rise through the summer, and the leaves have a very long record as the fine, soothing greens of the old practice, the young leaves coming to the salads and the teas of the early tables. It is one of the fine choices for the wayside, the green verge and the study collection, and it has been written up in the botanical and the culinary papers for the ribbed leaves and the very long history. It is a fine, steady plant of the open, sunny to lightly shaded, deep, moist, well-drained garden.

Sow in the early spring or the autumn for the rosettes, and the spikes will rise in the first season.

To grow the plantain from seed, sow the small, dark seeds just under the surface of the tray of fine, gritty soil, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings appear within a couple of weeks and grow on steadily. With the sun or the light shade and the deep, moist, well-drained ground, the ribbed rosettes will spread over the years.

use:The Chinese Plantain has herbal & medicinal uses.

NAME: Chinese Plantain
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Plantago asiatica
COLOR: Pale Green
PLANT SEEDS: Outdoors after frost / Indoors weeks before last frost
BLOOM TIME: Mid Summer
PLANT HEIGHT: 6 – 12"
PLANT SPACING: 9 – 12"
LIGHT REQUIREMENTS: Sun – Part Shade
SOIL & WATER PREFERENCES: Average