Ribwort Plantain

Ribwort plantain, Plantago lanceolata. Hayes Common, 30 May 2011.

This is a very common plant of waste ground and verges. Although I was looking for a shot that showed it distinct from its surroundings, that was impossible. It grows among many other things, and other things live on it. Leaving out the background, I can see on the left a thistle, a cow parsley going to seed, and a wild onion flower head. On the right is the flowering head of a false oat-grass (I think) and there are other grasses.

At least four of the plantain's flower heads have beetles on them; Malachius bipustulatus, as I could see at the time, though the scale of this photo does not make it easy to tell. A spider is ensconced in the centre of the plant. On a lower leaf is another beetle, a green Oedemera nobilis. And I am willing to bet that it is also crawling with even smaller lifeforms.