Family: Plantaginaceae

Origin, Description & Uses
Plantago lanceolata, commonly known as narrow-leaved plantain, buckhorn plantain, or English plantain, is a low-growing perennial herb native to Macaronesia, North Africa, and temperate regions of Eurasia. It has narrow, ribbed leaves that grow in a basal rosette and slender flower stalks topped with dense spikes of tiny flowers. This adaptable species thrives in a wide range of environments, including lawns, roadsides, pastures, coastal areas, and disturbed soils. It has long been used in traditional herbal medicine for wound care and soothing inflammation, and it is sometimes planted as a forage species for livestock or tolerated as a hardy groundcover.

Risks & Threats
In Hawai‘i, Plantago lanceolata is widely naturalized across multiple islands, including Hawai‘i Island, Maui, O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, Moloka‘i, Lāna‘i, Midway Atoll, and French Frigate Shoals. It is commonly found in beach parks, coastal sites, open pastures, mesic forest openings, and even subalpine shrublands. This species possesses traits that are cause for concern, including prolific seed production, tolerance of varied climates and soils, and the ability to establish in disturbed and natural habitats across a broad elevation range. Because it can spread readily and compete with native vegetation, it could detrimentally impact tropical island ecosystems by altering plant communities and contributing to the spread of non-native species in sensitive habitats. Recommend choosing low-risk or native groundcover and restoration species when suitable alternatives are available.

High Risk Traits:

• Broad distribution, climate tolerance, and elevation range exceeds 1000 m, demonstrating environmental versatility
  
• Grows in temperate and tropical climates
  
• Widely naturalized
  
• Weed of disturbed sites, agriculture and the natural environment
  
• Other Plantago species are invasive
  
• Host for recognized pests and pathogens
  
• Prolific pollen causes hay fever
  
• Shade-tolerant
  
• Tolerates many soil types
  
• Can form dense stands
  
• Produces seeds which are dispersed by adhering to people, animals and equipment
  
• Seeds also dispersed by water and internally by birds and other animals
  
• Able to reach maturity in 1 year
  
• Can form a persistence seed bank
  
• Can tolerate browsing and resprouts after fire

Low Risk Traits:

• Unarmed (no spines, thorns or burrs)
  
• Provides fodder for livestock
  
• Mostly self-incompatible
  
• Not able to hybridize with other Plantago species
  
• Herbicides provide effective control