Coltsfoot
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. July 2011.
Scientific name: Tussilago farfara L.
Common name(s): coltsfoot, tash plant, ass’s foot, bull’s foot, butterbur, coughwort, farfara, foal’s foot, foalswort, horse foot, winter heliotrope
Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- flowers emerge before leaves
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- flower in early May
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- flower stem detail
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- emerging leaves
Description:
– perennial
-leaves are
- alternate
- basal
– flowers in spring before leaves emerge
Habitat:
-moist sites
-disturbed sites
-shores of rivers
Natural History:
-native to Europe
-introduced for its medical properties
-herbal remedy
-carcinogenicity of young, pre-blooming flowers of coltsfoot
- due to senkirkine, a hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid
Sources:
Go Botany. “Tussilago Farfara L.” Tussilago Farfara (Coltsfoot): Go Botany, 2020, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/tussilago/farfara/.
Hirono, I., Mori, H., & Culvenor, C. C. (1976). Carcinogenic activity of coltsfoot, tussilago farfara l. Gann, 67(1), 125.