Hay fever that starts with the grasses but drags on into August? Ribwort plantain is a small weed that grows in almost every lawn and verge in Europe, and it flowers through the whole summer. Our test checks IgE to its main allergen, Pla l 1, as part of 300 allergens and allergen components, right next to the grass markers it is so often confused with.
Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata), also called English or narrowleaf plantain, is a low weed with long, ribbed leaves and small brown flower heads on tall stalks. You have almost certainly walked past it today. It has nothing to do with the banana-like plantain fruit.
Unlike many showy flowers, plantain is pollinated by the wind, so it puts a lot of light pollen into the air. Its main allergen, Pla l 1, belongs to the Ole e 1-like protein family, the same family as the main olive pollen allergen.
Plantain causes the usual hay fever set: sneezing, a runny or blocked nose, itchy and watery eyes, and sometimes a cough on high-pollen days.
The tricky part is timing. Plantain flowers in the same weeks as the grasses and carries on after them. Most people with IgE to plantain also have IgE to grass, so it is easy to put everything down to grass and miss the weed beside it.
Pla l 1 is a fairly specific marker. IgE to it points at plantain itself rather than at a protein shared by many plants. That makes it useful for telling apart people who react to grass alone from people who react to grass and plantain.
For someone with summer hay fever, that difference can matter in a conversation with a doctor, for example when treatment options aimed at a specific pollen are being discussed.
From a finger-prick sample, the lab measures IgE to Pla l 1 as part of 300 allergens and allergen components. There is no whole plantain pollen extract on the panel. The timothy grass components and the other summer weeds, such as mugwort, goosefoot and ragweed, are on the same report.
A positive result means your blood shows IgE to plantain pollen. That is sensitisation, not a diagnosis. Each value gets a class from Negative to Very high, to discuss with a doctor.
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One finger-prick sample checks IgE to 300 allergens and allergen components, from birch and peanut to cat and house dust mite. Post it to the lab, and about 5 days after it arrives you get a value for every one. Our plain-English guide shows you how to read them. €399 in total, €1.33 per allergen.
In central and northern Europe ribwort plantain flowers from about May to September, with the peak in June and July. That overlaps almost exactly with grass season, and it carries on a little longer.
No. The weed ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata) and the cooking banana called plantain are unrelated plants. This page is about the weed and its pollen.
It happens, but it is less common. Most people with IgE to plantain also have IgE to grass. Testing Pla l 1 next to the grass markers shows whether you have one, the other or both.
