Plantago maritima
| Plantago maritima | |
| Light: |  |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 1' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Early Summer-Late Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Shelter | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Plantago maritima (common name: sea plantain)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in early summer.
A sowing can be made outdoors in situ in mid to late spring if you have enough seeds.
Cultivation: Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in a sunny position[1].
An important food plant for the caterpillars of many species of butterflies[2].
Range: Western Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to Spain, Hungary and Russia.
Habitat: Short turf in salt marshes near the sea and by streams in mountains, usually in saline or wet soils[3].
Edibility: Young leaves - raw or cooked[4][5][6][7]. A delicious flavour[8]. This is one of the nicer-tasting members of the genus, the leaves are fairly low in fibres and make an acceptable addition to a mixed salad[K]. The leaves are canned for winter use in Alaska[7].
Seed - raw or cooked. The seed can be ground into a powder and used as a flour extender[8]. The seed is very small and tedious to harvest[8].
Medicinal: Plantain seeds contain up to 30% mucilage which swells up in the gut, acting as a bulk laxative and soothing irritated membranes[9]. Sometimes the seed husks are used without the seeds[9].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Wind: Tolerates maritime wind exposure
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Carter, David. Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe. Pan, 1982.
- ↑ Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Hedrick, Ulysses. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications, 1972.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Schofield, Janice. Discovering Wild Plants.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.