Buckhorn Plantain

What it looks like

Narrow, lance-shaped leaves with visible parallel veins, growing low in a rosette. Sends up a tall thin stalk topped with a tight, bullet-shaped seedhead. Often confused with broadleaf plantain, which has wide, egg-shaped leaves instead.

Often mistaken for: Broadleaf plantain

When it shows up in the Triangle

Seed stalks pop up from late spring through summer here in the Triangle.

Where you’ll see it

Shows up in lawns that are thin or stressed, giving it room to root in.

What you can do

• Thicken up your lawn with regular fertility and proper mowing height
• Relieve soil compaction so grass can compete better
• Pull young plants by hand before the taproot gets established
• Overseed thin or bare patches to crowd it out