Poppers and Plantains

Long ago, before smartphones, remote control drones and selfie obsession became favourite childhood pursuits, we enjoyed simpler pleasures. Most of these involved doing ridiculously dangerous things like making rope swings over quarries, or climbing vertiginously high trees, or hurtling down 1:3 hills in pram-wheeled homemade go karts (called Dandies in my part of the world for some reason) without the aid of protective helmets or, more often than not, brakes. 

For the less adventurous there were war games or 'Cowboys and Indians' and we were quick to adopt any non-lethal weapon we could find. Which is where Poppers come in. What we called Poppers would be a massive disappointment to someone who frequents the clubbing scene. They were the tough fibrous stalks of the Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and, in particular, their oval brown flower heads. Some kids called them 'Hard Heads' and others called them 'Soldiers', possibly because of their resemblance to a guardsman's bearskin hat. 

There was a technique to 'popping' them.

It involved looping the stalk around the 'neck' - the bit of stalk that connects to the head - and then pushing quickly upwards. The head would then pop off and fly a good three to four feet or more. I had a go at doing it today in the garden. I could still do it 50% of the time.

I'm told by friends that there was also a game called 'Grandmother, Grandmother, jump out of bed' that children played with them. Mrs C tells me that she would say 'Granny, out of bed you pop' and on the final word would fire off the plantain head.

There are six species of plantain found in the UK and they are fairly easy to distinguish from each other. 

Ribwort Plantain has distinctive flower heads and long, narrow, heavily-ribbed leaves.

Meanwhile, Greater Plantain (Plantago major) has broader, egg-shaped leaves and the flowerheads are long and thin and extend most of the way down the stalk. Another childhood pastime was to pull these Plantain leaves apart - however many ribs defied tearing indicated how many children you'd have.

Hoary Plantain (Plantago media) has a similar flowerhead to greater plantain but its leaves are oval, greyish and downy.

Then there are two coastal species - Buck’s-Horn Plantain (Plantago coronopus), which has lobed leaves that look a bit like Rocket, and Sea Plantain (Plantago maritima) which has long thin un-ribbed leaves.

The sixth species is Shoreweed (Littorella uniflora) which is more or less aquatic and looks nothing like any of the others. It's often used as plant in aquariums and terrariums as it's non-toxic.

All of the Plantains - except Shoreweed - are edible and have some medicinal uses. 

The flowerheads of Ribwort Plantain - those beloved childhood Poppers - taste strongly of mushroom. They don't have a very nice mouthfeel when you chew them but you can gather them to make a tasty mushroom flavoured stock for use in soups, risottos etc. Then you can save the actual mushrooms for the dish. The leaves are too bitter to eat but they do contain natural antihistamines, antifungal agents, antioxidants, analgesics and even a mild antibiotic. Used as an antihistamine, the leaves are very effective at dealing with nettle stings or insect bites/stings (unlike Dock leaves which rely on the placebo effect). 

Greater Plantain doesn't taste very nice but the leaves have the same medicinal properties as Ribwort Plantain. 

The leaves of Hoary Plantain are okay raw or cooked but only when very young when they have a slight bitterness. The inflorescence (flower head) is sweet and was traditionally sucked by children. 

The leaves of Buck's-Horn Plantain taste like parsley only a bit nuttier and the seeds can be used as a laxative. 

The leaves of Sea Plantain are tender, salty and succulent with some sweetness and mushroomy backnotes. 

The name 'Plantain' (pronounced 'plantin') is of Old French origin and was derived from the Latin plantage. The word's root, planta, alludes to the sole of the foot, a reference to its flat leaves. This may also be how the unrelated Plantain fruit got its name. 

It has a long history as a herbal medicine. The herbalist Gerard reported that plantain juice dropped in the eyes 'cools the heate and inflammation thereof.' The reason for the plant's fame, he noted, is its 'great commoditie' of growing everywhere. The Puritans brought Plantain to New England where it was introduced to Boston, Plymouth, and the Cape Cod settlements. English settlers took Plantain to all the seaboard colonies, where they continued its use as a home remedy for deep cuts and sore feet. 

And you thought it was just for firing at the back of your best mate's head.