One of the few plants that is looking fantastic in the gardens right now is plantain, also known by the common name of ribgrass. While almost everything else is brown or just barely coming back to life, the plantain makes a few patches of lush green in the Historic Tree Grove and butterfly
gardens.
Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) is one of about 200 species of inconspicuous grass like plants common to disturbed areas like roadsides and yards. Often the wide blades of this plant can be spotted in a lawn before the rest of the grasses come to life after a long winter. Plantain is the host to the lovely Buckeye Butterfly (Junonia coenia) which is common to the Tampa Bay region of Florida. The caterpillars are charcoal grey to black and covered in tiny non-stinging spines.
Since prehistoric times plantagos have been used in poultices to cure rashes from insect bites and poison ivy and also as a tincture to help heal coughs and bronchitis. Of no relation to the similarly named banana cousin, broad leaf plantain varieties have sometimes been used as a leaf vegetable in salads.
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