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Plant · P-302
Narrowleaf Plantain
Plantago lanceolata
Narrowleaf Plantain is a nutrient-dense forage plant, especially rich in copper, calcium and selenium, that earns its keep as part of a mixed pasture sward alongside grasses and legumes rather than as a stand-alone crop. It has a genuine anthelmintic effect against gut parasites in grazing livestock, though a milder one than chicory, so treat any worming benefit as a bonus rather than the reason to plant it. Unlike its broader-leaved relative, it grows as an upright, narrow-leaved tuft rather than a spreading ground cover, and while it tolerates drought and summer heat well, it cannot handle saline ground.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–9
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6–7.5
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6–18 in
- Mature spread
- 8 in
- Plant spacing
- 6–12 in
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Seed
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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