English plantain pollen allergy

What it is

English plantain (Plantago lanceolata) is a weed. University of Nevada, Reno Extension lists it as buckhorn plantain, with English plantain, narrow-leaf plantain and ribgrass among its other common names.² It is not the banana-like fruit also sold as plantain. The US government’s medical subject headings (MeSH) file that fruit under a different genus, Musa.⁴ English plantain belongs to the plantain family, Plantaginaceae, and is native to Europe, Asia and Africa.¹

The plant is a perennial that reproduces by seed.¹ Its narrow leaves grow in a rosette at the base of the plant. They can reach about 10 inches long and 1 to 2 inches wide, and their parallel veins are deeply recessed.¹ In flower, the plant sends up bare, unbranched stalks up to about a foot tall. Each stalk ends in a tight flower spike up to 2 inches long that carries pollen-producing anthers.¹

ACAAI lists English plantain among the weeds that cause seasonal allergies.⁵ The plants most likely to cause a seasonal allergic reaction are wind-pollinated trees, grasses and weeds. Their pollen is light, released in large amounts and easily breathed in.⁵ Bright, colorful flowers, by contrast, are often pollinated by insects. Their pollen is larger, heavier and stickier, and much less likely to cause an allergic reaction.⁵

Symptoms it causes

English plantain pollen can cause symptoms when it is breathed in. Seasonal allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, is usually caused by pollen from trees, grasses and weeds, or by mold spores in the air.⁶

Hay fever can bring a runny nose, sneezing, and a stuffy nose from blockage or congestion. It can also cause itchy eyes, mouth or skin, and tiredness, which is often linked to poor sleep from a blocked nose.⁶

An allergist can find out which pollens are behind the symptoms. One common way is a skin test, in which small amounts of suspected allergens are introduced into the skin.⁶

Where and when it grows

English plantain grows on roadsides and in lawns, gardens, vacant lots, cultivated fields, pastures and other disturbed ground. It came from Europe and has naturalized over much of the United States.² In lawns it is much less common than it once was, because it is sensitive to 2,4-D and other growth-regulator weed killers. Iowa classifies it as a noxious weed.¹ Its long, narrow leaves set it apart from two other common plantains in Iowa, broadleaf plantain and blackseed plantain.¹

It blooms from late spring through summer, according to University of Nevada, Reno Extension.² A US Geological Survey plant guide for Louisiana records it flowering from May to October.³ Pollen seasons as a whole usually peak from March through October, but the timing varies by region, depending on when local plants pollinate.⁵