Leaf:  Simple, in a basal rosette; blades lanceolate or oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic or linear, 5 to 40 cm long, 5 to 45 mm wide, with sharp tips; margin entire or rarely shallow-toothed, teeth remote or widely spread apart; upper surface green, sparsely hairy or without hairs, with 3 to 5 prominent veins running lengthwise, tapering into the petiole; brownish hairs surrounding base; leaves sometimes twisted and curled.                

Flower:  Numerous tiny flowers tightly-clustered in short to elongate spikes at ends of long, grooved stems, 6 to 30 inches (15 to 76 cm) tall; appearing May through October; open flowers commonly forming a ring around the flower head; each flower having 4 inconspicuous white petals 2 to 3 mm long, and white protruding stamens.                            

Fruit:  Elliptical capsule 3 to 4 mm long, separating near the base, containing 1 or 2 brown seeds, each seed under 3 mm long.                         

Form:  Annual or perennial forb with only basal leaves.                              
 

Discussion

The genus name Plantago comes from the Latin planta, or "footprint".  The species name lanceolata means "lance-shaped", referring to the leaf shape.  Buckhorn plantain came to the New World with some of the first European settlers, and it spread across the continent.  Native Americans called buckhorn "White Man's Foot" because everywhere European Settlers went this plant followed. 

Buckhorn is a plentiful food supply for rabbits which eat the leaves and for small mammals and songbirds which eat the seeds.

The young leaves are edible, though they are reported to be better after they are cooked.  Older leaves tend to be more tough and hairy.  Leaves can used to make a tea or added to other dishes as a seasoning.  It is reported that the raw seeds have a laxative effect.  

In the 1970s, Euell Gibbons appeared on many television talk shows to spread the word about edible wild plants.  His recommendations for preparing plantain seem to hinge around getting the tough fibers out.  He took on a challenge to make plantain palatable, and the resulting soup appears to be mostly "not plantain".  He mixed together a can of chicken consomme, a cup of water, a diced onion, a diced potato, and all the plantain leaves that would be covered by that much liquid in his pan.  He boiled the mixture until the potato was cooked, and put the whole batch through a strainer to separate the food from the fibers.  Then he finished it off with salt, black pepper, and a cup of cream.  He and his guests enjoyed the soup.

Distinguishing Characteristics

Buckhorn plantain has many narrow leaves forming a basal cluster, either spreading or upright, and brownish, bullet-shaped flower heads atop green stalks.  

Distribution

Buckhorn plantain is found throughout the United States, inhabiting lawns, pastures, meadows, disturbed sites, waste places, and roadsides

Images

Click each small picture to see a larger image. 

October, 2003  CB	October, 2003  NS	October, 2003  CB
October, 2003 NS	October, 2003  CB	October, 2003  NS

Location

N 39.27949°     W -89.89065°
Along the central west margin of the vacant lot next to McDonald's, West Main Street, Carlinville, Macoupin County, IL.

Copyright

Photos © 2003 Nathan Starr and Charlotte Bundgaard, Carlinville High School, linke@carlinvilleschools.net       
           
References

Turfgrass Program, University of Illinois  (accessed 12/03)
http://www.turf.uiuc.edu/weed_web/descriptions/buckhorn.htm

Michael L. Charters, Botanical Word Meanings and Name Derivations  (accessed 12/03)
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/pageH-L.html 

Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk, USDA Forest Service  (accessed 12/03)
http://www.hear.org/pier/species/plantago_lanceolata.htm 

Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide  (accessed 12/03)
http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/plala.htm

Purdue Agronomy, Purdue University (IN)  (accessed 12/03)
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/weeds/buckhorn/buckflower.htm

Dr. David Lowell Robinson.  Botany Department, Bellarmine College (KY)  (accessed 12/03)
http://cas.bellarmine.edu/robinson/buckhorn.htm

Stubbendieck, James, Geir Y. Friisoe, and Margaret R. Bolick.  1994.  Weeds of Nebraska And the Great Plains.  Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Lincoln.  589 pp.

Agriculture Research Service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. 1971.  Common weeds of the United States.  Dover Publications, Inc., New York.  463 pp.

de Bray, Lys.  1978.  The wild garden.  Mayflower Books, Inc., New York.  191 pp.

Editorial Subcommittee of the Regional Technical Committee of Project NC-10, K.P. Buchholtz, Chairman. 1954.  Weeds of the north central states [North Central Regional Publication No. 36, Circular 718   Feb. 1954]. University of Illinois, Urbana. 239 pp.

Gibbons, Euell and Gordon Tucker.  1979.  Euell Gibbons' handbook of edible wild plants.  The Donning Company, Virginia Beach.  319 pp.

 Click here to return to the plant list for Carlinville High School's South-Central Illinois flora studies.