Ribwort plantain is undoubtedly one of the most common flowering plants you will encounter. There are species very common in certain habitats, daisies lawns for example, but ribwort can be found just about anywhere and everywhere and in good numbers too.
In my days of leading walks I found some people were surprised that ribwort plantain was truly a flower, it being far from the typical flowering plant. It has a tall stem with a single brown, clustered flowering body at the top surrounded by a dispersed ring of white stamens. The leaves are also tall and thin (lanceolate) with ribs running the length of them; it is not hard to see how its name comes about.
As with many common herbs of the countryside ribwort plantain has been used as a herbal remedy for many ailments and it is thought that a tea made from the leaves is an effective cough medicine.
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