Also known as Cuckoo's Bread, Ripple Grass, Waybread, common plantain has a long history of use in North America, earning a place in Native American history as well as in English herbal literature dating to the early 1600s.
Today, Slan-lus, an old name for plantain that means “plant of healing,” is used in tea blends. Because the plant contains a compound called aucubin, one of several iridoid glycosides that plants use as defense from pathogens, plantain leaf is also used to make infused oils and tinctures for topical use.