stockslager's Identifications

I have lots of Plantago in my lawn, which I usually think of as a treat for the little pollinators. However, a friend told me that the young flower heads are edible for humans. I tried a couple. They're relatively chewy (high fiber, I'm sure) and taste a little bit like mushrooms. Not bad. I wonder how they'd be in soup?

As usual, if you decide to try these from your own lawn, use caution. Do your research on whether anyone is known to have bad reactions, make sure you've got the right plant, make sure it's clean (ex. no pesticides), and try just a little (in case you're the one person with allergies).

This Verbena was growing in a weedy field next to the parking area for Jungle Jim's market in Cincinnati. I was surprised to see this species apparently growing wild, but the field looked like a dumping site for concrete and soil and maybe flowerbed remnants (I saw a hydrangea in one pile), so I assume seeds could have been carried in with garden waste. I only saw two V. bonariensis plants, but they were mixed in with other field weeds and looked like they had come up in the area rather than being carried in as plants.