''Plantago media'', known as the hoary plantain, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the plantain family

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

. It is native to central and western Europe, including Great Britain and introduced to parts of the north-east United States. Its generic name is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for sole; like other members of the genus ''Plantago'', it should not be confused with the unrelated plantain, a starchy

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

Description

''Plantago media'' grows in damp grassy meadows up to an altitude of 2000 m. A slender stalk of between 5 and 50 cm develops from a basal rosette of finely-haired

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

. Delicate pink-white

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are borne between May and September. ''P. media'' is

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrate ...

and is pollinated by wind or insects, particularly

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...

Distribution and habitat

''Plantago media'' is native to Eurasia. It is native to eastern England, but scarce in Scotland and Ireland. It is

calcicole A calcicole, calciphyte or calciphile is a plant that thrives in lime rich soil. The word is derived from the Latin 'to dwell on chalk'. Under acidic conditions, aluminium becomes more soluble and phosphate less. As a consequence, calcicoles grown ...

, characteristic of soils on chalk or limestone, growing in grassland, meadows, lawns and waste places.

Uses

The plant is edible. Archeological finds testify to its use during the Roman era in Britain.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q157272 media Medicinal plants Flora of France Flora of China Flora of Denmark Flora of Estonia Flora of Finland Flora of Germany Flora of Greece Flora of Iran Flora of Italy Flora of Latvia Flora of Lithuania Flora of Norway Flora of Romania Flora of Russia Flora of Spain Flora of Turkey Flora of the United Kingdom Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus