Plantago coronopus

Plantago coronopus (minutina, erba stella, buck's horn plantain) is a species of Plantago. It is an annual or perennial herb producing a basal rosette of narrowly lance-shaped leaves up to 25 centimeters long that are toothed or deeply divided. The inflorescences grow erect to about 4 to 7 cm in height. They have dense spikes of flowers which sometimes curve. Each flower has four whitish lobes each measuring about a millimeter long. Plantago coronopus mainly grows on sandy or gravelly soils close to the sea.[+]

It is native to Eurasia and North Africa but it can be found elsewhere, including the United States, Australia, and New Zealand as an introduced species.

Sometimes grown as a leaf vegetable, mostly incorporated in salad mixes for specialty markets. Recently it has become popular as a frost-hardy winter crop for farmers in northern climates, and is usually grown in unheated hightunnels.

Buck's horn plantain (Plantago coronopus) on roadside of a road to Zubara, area of Al Magdah farms (Thaghab Al Majda). Qatar, February 28, 2014

Unnamed Road, Qatar

Buck's horn plantain (Plantago coronopus), view from above, on roadside of a road to Zubara, area of Al Magdah farms (Thaghab Al Majda). Qatar, February 28, 2014

Al Ghuwairiya HC St, Al-Ghuwayriyah, Qatar