Ribwort plantain is native throughout Europe, northern and central Asia, and the plant has been naturalized in Australia and America. The drug material comes mainly from cultures in Eastern European countries and Holland, and to a small extent from wild occurrences.
In herbal medicine, the dried leaves and flower shafts of ribwort plantain are used.
Ribwort plantain: characteristics of the plant.
Ribwort plantain is a perennial, widespread plant with basal rosettes consisting of leaves about 20 cm long with parallel veins.
The addition lanceolatae in the Latin name of the plant means as much as spear and is based on the lanceolate shape of the leaves. The plant bears inconspicuous brown flowers that stand in cylindrical spikes at the end of a long stalk. Below the flowers protrude conspicuous whitish stamens.
The broad plantain (Plantaginis major) and the middle plantain (Plantaginis media) are also used as medicinal plants.
Characteristics of the remedy
The leaves of the plant are light to gray-green and not hairy at all or only very weakly. The whitish nerves on the underside of the leaves are clearly visible. The green to brown-black leaf stalks and fragments of the flower spikes are also part of the drug.
Ribwort plantain is largely odorless. The taste of ribwort is mucilaginous, salty, and somewhat bitter at the same time.
