The type of plantain I am talking about is a woodland plant, not the relative of the banana.
Plantain is a great plant to have around your yard, though it is a broadleaf and will make traditional lawns look a little weird. It has very broad leaves and a spike of little flowers in late summer and the flowers turn to seed by mid fall. It loves to grow near roads and in areas that have not been used for anything else for several years. The plants get bigger every year, like mullein.
Plantain is a great medicinal plant. The leaf is good in poultices on insect bites and small cuts. It can also be used in a poultice for first degree burns.
If you have a mosquito bite or a small cut, bruise or crush a leaf from the plantain plant and place it directly on the wound. I do not recommend do ing this for larger wounds.
If you have a small burn, boil a little plantain leaf and black tea in water, strain it, add it to Aloe gel and apply liberally. The combination is great for minor to second degree(blistery) burns. Do not apply to broken blisters or to charred skin. There are better ways of dealing with burns, though.
The seeds are good (medicinally) ground up and drunk: it is the main ingredient in laxative preparations. Be careful ingesting it as it will work VERY WELL.
Another laxative recipe to make a great laxative that will work within 4 hours(be near a bathroom) - take Aloe juice and ground plantain seeds and heat. Do not boil. Let it cool and drink it. Do this when you do not have anything else to do for a while. It will hit suddenly and you will be in the bathroom for an extended period of time. Do not do this preparation unless you have not been able to poo for several days. It will clear out EVERYTHING in your system.