Plantain

Statema, B. C. P.

Plant

Plantain

Piantagine

Known today as: Plantago major.
Kind: Plant, in 1 older authority
Constituents: aucubin and catalpol, acteoside, mucilage, and 1 more
Earliest authority here: The Nine Herbs Charm
In other databases: Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
In the Canale glossary: On the Manner of Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Appendix A: Part Three, Chapter 9: Anointings

Plantain: what did Canale use it for?

Its water as the alternative vehicle for the oil (ch. 9).

Plantain: foraging it in the Midwest

Part: Leaves
When: Whole season

The Flambeau Ojibwe soaked the leaves in warm water and bound them on bruises, sprains, and sores, and used them for burns, scalds, bee stings, and snake bites; the Pillager Ojibwe the same. A dooryard weed everywhere.

After Smith. All the foragables of the Midwest. Historical record, not a field guide: identify before you gather, and read the whole entry.

Plantain: how is it taken as a tea?

A pint of boiling water on an ounce of the herb, a wineglassful to half a teacupful three or four times a day, still recommended in herbal medicine for diarrhoea and piles.

All the herbal teas of the database. Historical directions, not medical advice.

Plantain: what does modern science say?

A traditional wound herb with anti-inflammatory activity.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

aucubin and catalpoliridoid glycosides
acteoside ChEMBLa phenylethanoid
mucilage
tannins

Mechanism

The mucilage soothes the throat and the iridoids are mildly anti-inflammatory and antibacterial; the leaf on a sting or a cut is a folk dressing with astringent and antibacterial reason behind it. The seed of the related psyllium is the bulk laxative.

Toxic dose

Safe.

Standing

EMA monograph (2011, revised 2024) for ribwort plantain leaf for irritation of the mouth and throat and dry cough.

EMA/HMPC (2024). European Union herbal monograph on Plantago lanceolata L., folium (EMA/HMPC/887979/2022, Revision 1). Verified against its record

Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.

Plantain: what lore surrounds it?

Plantain earned a name among Native American peoples for how faithfully it followed colonization: arriving with European settlers and spreading along their paths, roads, and cleared ground, it became “white man’s footprint” or “Englishman’s foot,” a plant whose presence announced that settlement had already come.

Plantain: what did the older authorities say?

The Nine Herbs Charm: Plantain, “waybread,” is the mother of herbs, open to the east, over which carts have creaked, queens have ridden, and brides cried out.

Sources

[109] Samuelsen, A. B. (2000). The traditional uses, chemical constituents and biological activities of Plantago major L.: a review. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 71(1–2): 1–21. doi:10.1016/s0378-8741(00)00212-9 Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/s0378-8741(00)00212-9

Awkward Botany, “White Man’s Foot.” Book, not indexed
Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal, “Plantain, Common.” As published on botanical.com.

Verification

Checked

October 1, 2026

Passes

Every sentence read against its sources, in the fifty-entry sample
The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database

Sources

4 cited: 2 verified against its record, 1 book, not indexed, 1 not yet checked.

Corrections

None were needed.

What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.

Cite This Entry

Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026

Chicago: “Plantain.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 25, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/plantain.
MLA: “Plantain.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 25 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/plantain. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Plantain. (2026, September 25). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/plantain

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