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Common Name: English Plantain, Chimney Sweep
Scientific Name: Plantago lanceolata
Family: Plantaginaceae
Woodland Drive
Columbus, North Carolina
June 4, 2002
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A familiar dooryard weed with slender 3-ribbed leaves and a long, grooved stalk topped by a short, bushy flower head. 9 - 24 inches. Waste places. April - November Peterson, Roger Tory and McKenny, Margaret, Peterson Field Guides: A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and Northcentral North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1968]
In many areas, this plant is considered nothing more than an obnoxious weed; on the other hand, its seeds are relished by many songbirds, and the leaves are a favorite food of wild rabbits. The basal rosette of long, narrow, strongly ribbed leaves give rise to a slender stalk, which is strongly ribbed leaves give rise to a slender stalk, which is topped by a dense, dark green, cone-shaped head from which emerge tiny, spirally arranged, greenish white flowers. Each flower consists of a four-lobed corolla with four protruding, white stamens. English plantain is also known as Chimney Sweep, because the flower head resembles the brushes that were once used to clean chimneys in England. This plant is widespread and grows in waste areas, in pastures, and along roadsides. June - Frost [Alderman, J. Anthony, Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1997]
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Alphabetical Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Family Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z
Genus Listings -- A B C D, E F G H I, J, K L M N, O P Q, R S T U, V W X, Y, Z