Plantago lanceolata
Plantain is a common weed often found alongside driveways, in sidewalk cracks, and other neglected places. Many people view it as an annoyance, but it is one of the first plants I learned to identify and it’s an amazing little miracle worker.
Have a splinter? Put plantain on it to draw it out.
Burn or scrape that is hurting? Plantain.
Hives or itchiness? Plantain.
Need to draw out infection? Plantain.1
I was hiking in a really wet canyon a couple years ago with my children and we encountered stinging nettle for the first time. “A plant bit me!” my oldest cried out. (Indeed, son, indeed.) We hadn’t identified the plant yet, but we all bore the red, raised blistering on arms and lower legs. When we reached a rocky clearing and sat down to rest, I pulled out my first aid kit to see what I had to address our uncomfortable predicament. In the bottom of my pack was a small tub of some yarrow and plantain salve I had made the year before. Onto the wounds it went and — voila! — in less than five minutes, the discomfort was gone and in less than ten, you couldn’t even tell where we had been touched by the nettles.
I never cease to be amazed by God’s creation, and how He literally planned for everything we needed to be available to us.
This little wonder plant inspired me in prayer this week, for all of us who need healing. For all of us who have have been walking around hurting from the enemy’s potshots… for all of us who are struggling with the harsh ‘burns’ of the inner critic (whom the enemy loves to use against us), or outward critics who curse and wound us with their mouths:
Lord Jesus, pull out the fiery darts of the wicked one,
cool the burns and seal them
with Your Holy Spirit
as only You can.
I am not a medical doctor, nor am I a licensed herbalist. I am a plant aficionado with some years of agricultural experience living off the land and a fascination with natural remedies. I speak from personal experience and experimentation as well as research I have done. Do not take any of this information as a substitute for actual medical care from a medical professional. Y’all have been warned.
Good resources: “Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants” by Scott Kloos; “Medicinal Herbs” by Rosemary Gladstar; and “Herbal Medic” by Sam Coffman.
Whenever I hear the word plantain, I think of bananas! They’re the tropical ones you can find in the store. I guess they’re all kind of tropical, but these are the special ones that I never buy.
There’s also a scientific family with the name. I’m just learning all of this stuff so your article is interesting to me. I’m not sure I have ever identified the actual plan as you share.