Plantain Leaf

(Plantago major)

Plantago major — Broadleaf Plantain — is one of the most ubiquitous and historically significant medicinal plants in the world, so common and so widely distributed that it grows as a familiar “weed” on every inhabited continent on earth. A low-growing perennial of the family Plantaginaceae, native to Europe and northern and central Asia but now naturalized globally, plantain was carried around the world by European settlers so reliably that many Indigenous peoples of North America called it “White Man’s Foot” — it seemed to spring up wherever Europeans walked. Yet far from being merely a weed, Plantago major has one of the longest and most distinguished records of use in the history of Western herbalism: it appears in the Anglo-Saxon herbal tradition as one of the nine sacred herbs, it was used extensively by Dioscorides and Pliny in the ancient Mediterranean world, and it has been a cornerstone of traditional botanical practice in European, Asian, and Indigenous North American herbal traditions for millennia. The broad, ribbed, oval leaves — with their characteristic parallel veins — are the part used in herbal preparations.

Plantain leaf is rich in a well-studied array of phytochemicals including aucubin (the primary iridoid glycoside, characteristic of the Plantago genus), catalpol (a related iridoid), acteoside (verbascoside — a potent phenylpropanoid glycoside), plantamajoside, baicalein and baicalin (flavonoids), luteolin, apigenin, quercetin, chlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, salicylic acid, mucilage (including plantaglucide), allantoin, tannins (including condensed tannins), vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium, and potassium. Available in Cut & Sifted and Powder forms.

Product Highlights

• Cut & sifted and powdered leaf of Plantago major — Broadleaf Plantain
• One of the most widely distributed and historically documented medicinal plants on earth
• A cornerstone of European, Asian, and Indigenous North American traditional herbal practice for millennia
• Rich in aucubin, acteoside, plantamajoside, allantoin, mucilage, and a broad spectrum of flavonoids
• Known to Indigenous peoples of North America as “White Man’s Foot” — it followed European settlers around the globe
• One of the nine sacred herbs of the Anglo-Saxon herbal tradition
• Available in Cut & Sifted and Powder forms

How to Use

Herbal Tea (Infusion): Steep 1–2 teaspoons of cut & sifted plantain leaf in 8 oz of hot water for 10–15 minutes; strain. The flavor is mild, slightly bitter, and grassy. Tincture: Use in alcohol or glycerin-based tincture preparations. Poultice: Fresh or rehydrated dried leaf applied topically as a traditional poultice — a classic folk use. Herbal Blends: Combines well with marshmallow root, mullein, and calendula in traditional respiratory and soothing herbal tea blends. Powder: Encapsulate or blend into herbal formulas.

Available in Cut & Sifted (4 oz, 8 oz, 16 oz) and Powder (4 oz, 8 oz, 16 oz).

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before use if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medications, or have a medical condition. Keep out of reach of children.