Che Qian Zi Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Che Qian Zi (Plantago asiatica), the seed of the Asian plantain, comes from a low perennial of the plantain family, Plantaginaceae, native to China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, where it grows in lawns, paths, and field margins; it is a close relative of the broadleaf plantain of American sidewalks. The plant forms a flat rosette of broad, oval, long-stalked leaves with five to seven strongly parallel veins, and sends up several slender, leafless spikes 20 to 50 centimeters tall crowded with tiny greenish flowers. Each capsule drops several minute, dark brown, angular seeds that turn slippery and mucilaginous in water. We extract the dried seed.