Scientific name: Plantago major L.
Common name: Greater Plantain
Description
Habit: Perennial, to 40 cm high.
Stems: Erect, cylindrical, unridged, as long as leaves.
Leaves: In a basal rosette, spreading and pressed to the ground; undivided, broadly oval, with 5-9 veins, abruptly narrowed to leaf stalk, tip blunt, with a broadly winged leaf stalk as long as the leaf blade.
Flowers: Actinomorphic, hermaphrodite, small, in dense spikes 2-10 cm long; sepals 4, free or slightly united at the base, membranous, with green or brown midrib; petals 4, membranous, united to form a short tube with 4 spreading and triangular lobes, whitish or brownish; stamens 4, on long and usually white filaments, anthers lilac; ovary 4-celled, superior.
Fruits: A capsule with 4-12 seeds, about 1 mm long.
Habitat: Roadsides or similar disturbed or trampled habitats; rarely in turloughs, pastures and rough grazing areas. Distribution: Common throughout.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No