Herb of the Month: Plantain

by Holly Poole-Kavana, Little Red Bird Botanicals

Plantain (Plantago rugelii P. major, and P. lanceolata)

This common weed of lawns, alleys, and farms is a great plant for healing the skin: it can be used to encourage the skin to heal in cases of cuts, scrapes, burns, or cracked skin, and can also help ease itchiness from insect bites and stings. To use it, either mash up a fresh leaf and apply it to the skin directly (you can even just chew up the leaf to do this in a pinch!), or make it into a salve (ointment) to use later. Plantain is a very safe herb-- you can even eat the young leaves in a salad if you like the taste!

Scroll through these pictures to See the process of making a plantain salve!