Slingshot Weed

[shin]

Well, it's not really named slingshot weed.. that's just what my father calls it from when he was a boy, as it is so useful that way, if you loop the stem and pull...

I'd like to know what it's more official name is, as it has taken over my lawn.. or rather, to a large extent, it is my lawn rather than real grass.

I'd like real grass rather than it.. not sure what to do about that, or what grass seed to try, but one step at a time..

What is this incredibly common stuff actually called? The stuff with the brown tops like mini cattails.

[Skandi]

It is a plantain, precicely which one I can't tell you, but I can say that I have made some parents very unhappy by teaching their kids how to use it as you describe!

Lots of other uses too, from eating to medicine.

[shin]

My father, who is 75, and does not get out to garden much, beaned me on the first try with it!

[shin]

Seems like I have the 'narrow leaf' version of it, 'Plantago lanceolata'.

Reading about it I still am surprised that so many uses are attributed to something that I've considered a nuisance for months while mowing the yard.