Ribwort Plantain - Cowbar Nature

This plant can be seen all over the grassland and along the lane and footpath, flowering from April through to October.
It’s also known as narrow leaf plantain, English plantain and lamb’s-tongue.
The long, oval leaves have deep grooves in them and the stamens are a yellowy, creamy colour.
The flower heads eventually turn brown and seed. These seed heads remain all winter and provide food for goldfinches and other birds.
The plant attracts many small butterflies, moths and hoverflies. Even sheep like eating it but slugs and snails tend to leave it alone.
When the leaves are young they can be eaten as an alternative to spinach or in salads. As they get older they can be cooked and made into sauces. They are full of calcium, potassium and beta-carotene.
The young shoots – known as ‘poor man’s fiddlehead’ can be eaten after pan frying with, apparently, a nutty, asparagus taste. The seeds can be ground into flour or used as an alternative to rice.
Green seeds boiled in milk or tea made from the leaves are said to stop diarrhoea.
The plant is also said to have healing benefits for toothaches, prevent infections, poison ivy, cuts, insect bites and, rashes.
The flexible stems lend themselves to games such as ‘conkers’ style battles to knock the flower or seed head off your opponent’s stalk or the stalk is twisted around itself and slid to ‘ping’ the head off at someone.