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Ribwort - Plantago lanceolata

Family Plantaginaceae


Ribwort one of our wonder weeds,
a powerful healer and pleasant salad ingredient.		 One of the great miracle herbs that I have discovered growing wild on our land is Ribwort - Plantago lanceolata, also known as Rat-tail Plantain or Ribwort.

This incredible herb keeps on astounding me as I use it on my patients, and I see the wonderful results that occur.

When we first moved onto our land, I noticed that there was an abundance of Ribwort growing along the sides of our drive, I knew that it was wonderful for many ailments, but did not realise at that time how profound it was. I was talking to our new neighbour after we first moved here, and he told me his wife was weeding in our adjoining drive and was bitten by a brown snake and had been in intensive care for some time. He showed me the place where she was attacked: I noticed that there was lots of Ribwort growing there.

I felt inspired to look up the uses of Ribwort. There it was Ribwort, to be used for snakebites, if the knowledge would have been available our neighbours wife could have placed the leaves on the bite and it would have drawn out the poison. It seemed that nature provided the cure nearby.

Ribwort can be used as a tea, tincture or Homoeopathic remedy therapeutically, and is wonderful for detoxifying the body, and helps when a person is giving up smoking. A poultice on all-skin ailments and burns works quickly and bleeding stops immediately when you place a leaf on a cut.

Psyllium husks are around the dried seeds that come from Ribwort, these can be used for roughage with your food for the bowel.

We use Ribwort chopped up in salads, stir fry, as a cooked green, soups, herbal tea, and add the juice occasionally to orange or pineapple juice for a green Chlorophyll hit in our daily food intake. You can also cook Ribwort like spinach.

I am really glad that Ribwort has become part of my life and that I can now share it with many people so that they also can benefit from this Miracle Herb. 		Ribwort in full flower



I discovered Ribwort was great for Menopause, when I went through the change myself four years ago, and experienced erratic menstruation with times when I menstruated months apart and then one month, I bled profusely for three weeks. I actually was thinking about which herb to use when I walked outside and thought Ribwort. It is well known for internal and external bleeding. I took three cups of Ribwort tea that evening and woke up the next morning and the profuse bleeding had stopped, I have not menstruated since.

I have used Ribwort on many women since and the same thing happens, a handful of leaves in a pot of hot water, left to stand for at least 30 minutes and drink 3-4 cups definitely works.

After researching the menopause, I have found that native women who live on a natural diet of fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts and fish, have no menopausal problems, no hot flushes or depression. It is bad diet and stress that creates an over acid condition in the body which before menopause was eliminated by menstruation and after menopause is eliminated through the skin as a hot flush.

I have found by experimenting with myself that if I drink wine or foods with additives or emulsifiers, I will that night have a hot flush.

I do not experience hot flushes or depression when I stay on a natural diet. I believe nature has its own way of letting us know when we go off track.

Trijntje Reilly ND

Vitamins

Ribwort or Plantain contains vitamins A, B, C and K.

Minerals

Plantain or Ribwort contains these minerals: Calcium, Iron, Silica, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Selenium, Sodium, Zinc, Potassium and Sulphur.

Actions

Demulcent, Laxative, Astringent, Diuretic, Expectorant, Hemostatic, Antiseptic, Antispasmodic, Stomachic, Tonic, Antitussive, Vulnerary, Digestive.

Uses

Here is a list of the many therapeutic uses of Ribwort, I am sure there are many more that are not listed here.
  • Asthma
  • Blood Purifying
  • Bee Stings
  • Bed Wetting
  • Bladder Problems
  • Detoxification
  • Internal & External Bleeding
  • Blood Poisoning
  • Burns
  • Diarrhoea
  • Douche
  • Eyes
  • Excema
  • Fractures
  • Frigidity
  • Haemorrhage
  • Haemorrhoids
  • Hoarseness
  • Insect Bites
  • Itching
  • Kidneys
  • Leucorrhoea
  • Lumbago
  • Lungs
  • Menopause
  • Menstruation (decrease)
  • Poison Ivy-Oak
  • Poisonous Spiders
  • Rashes
  • Stinging Nettle rash
  • Snake Bites
  • Thrush
  • Tumours
  • Ulcers
  • Vagina
  • Wounds

from the Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism:
Plantago major L PLANTAGINACEAE
Greater Ribwort / Rat-tail Ribwort / Waybread

Ribwort This and some closely related Plantago species such as P. major var. asiatica Decne. and P. lanceolaia L have a long traditional use in the treatment of sores which has recently been vindicated by modem examination of the plant's action. The unattractive and tenacious Ribworts are the scourge of gardeners, but many are still highly respected in folk medicine from Africa to Vietnam.

Description: Perennial. Leaves entire or slightly toothed, long petioled, ovate to elliptic, 5-20 cm long, forming a basal rosette. Leaves prominently 7-veined and no more than twice as long as the petiole. Flowers inconspicuous 3 mrn wide, numerous, yellowish-green, with lilac and then yellow anthers, on cylindrical spike 5-40 cm long. Appearing early summer to mid-autumn.

Distribution: Native to Europe. Introduced to other temperate zones. Widely distributed on cultivated land, wasteland and roadside. Prefers moist sandy or loamy nutrient-rich soils, but tolerates most conditions.

Cultivation: Wild plant. In eastern Europe commercial cultivation of P. lanceolata L. has recently begun. Constituents ( Mucilage; a pentacyclic triterpene, oicanolic acid; a glycoside, aueu- bin (rhinanthin); the enzymes emulsin and invertin; potassium salts (to 0.5%); citric acid. (seed) Oil (to 22%); a trisaccharide, planteose; aucubin; choline; various organic acids.

Uses: (dried leaves, seed) Vulnerary; diuretic; expectorant; astringent; bacteriostatic. Principally of use as a poultice, ointment or in decoction for the external treatment of wounds, ulcers and bites. Also used as a gargle and as an eye-wash in blepharitis and conjunctivitis.

The plant has the ability to destroy a wide range of micro-organisms, and stimulates the healing process (epithelization). The leaf may be employed internally to treat diarrhoea, and conversely the seed is of benefit in constipation. Formerly used to treat various haemorrhage; including post-partum haemorrhage; also bronchitis, bronchial catarrh and coughs. An effective diuretic. Employed homeopathically. The young leaf was once used as a pot-herb.





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This document (www.middlepath.com.au/plant/ribwort.php) was last updated on Monday June 16th 2008  ||  email


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