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Ribwort Plantain

Ribwort Plantain

Plantago lanceolata

Identify the Ribwort Plantain from a photo and log your finds with Florapass.

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How common: Common

Alien species

Ribwort plantain is a tough, perennial plant with a low tuft of narrow, strongly ribbed leaves and tall leafless stalks. At the tip sits a short, dark flower head ringed by pale, waving pollen sacs; the plant is wind‑pollinated. It is a familiar sight on lawns, paths and dry grasslands, widespread across Europe and much of Asia and North Africa, and widely introduced in North America.

Did you know?

  • Its long pale pollen sacs tremble in the wind to spread pollen, forming a white “halo” around the flower head.
  • Caterpillars of the Glanville fritillary butterfly feed on it.

About the species

Identification

Perennial, 10–50 cm. Leaves form a base rosette; they are long and narrow (often up to about 25 cm), tough, with 3–7 strong, parallel ribs. Leaf stalks are short. Flower stalks are leafless, ridged, often about twice as tall as the leaves, each ending in a very dense, dark brown, oval to short cylindrical head. The tiny brownish flowers are hidden; what stands out are the long pale pollen sacs on thin threads that stick out and sway. Fruits are small dry cases, usually with two seeds. Greater plantain has broad round leaves; hoary plantain has wider, softer leaves in a low tuft. Flowers in Finland from June to August.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow

Flowering

Jun–Aug

About the habitat

Grows in open, usually dry places such as meadows and pastures, heaths, pathsides, lawns, road and rail verges, and waste ground. Common in Åland, the Turku archipelago, the south‑west coast and around Parikkala; elsewhere scattered and often short‑lived.

Sources

Photo: Alexis, CC BY 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plantago lanceolata 196704673.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Kaisaniemen kasvitieteellisen puutarhan evoluutiopuutarha - Asteridit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39679

Text: Pinkka: Kasvitieteen retkeily Ahvenanmaalle - Nåtön biologinen asema, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39679

Text: Pinkka (Luomus), CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39679

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hein%C3%A4ratamo

See also