Читать книгу Some Useful Wild Plants - Dan Jason - Страница 24

Coltsfoot or butterbur

Petasites spp.

Asteraceae

Coltsfoot leaves may be triangular, kidney-shaped or almost round depending on the species. They are entirely basal, toothed and often deeply cleft, white, woolly underneath and often a foot across. Flowers are purplish-white, sweet-scented and in soft loose heads on the ends of long, scaly-bracted stalks. They appear in March or soon after the snow is gone, sometimes before the leaves grow. Coltsfoot has a thick, creeping rootstalk and grows to a height of two feet.

The young foliage and flowers make a good pot-herb. Salt can be obtained by wilting the leaves in hot sun, rolling them with the stems into tight balls and ashing them on cedar bark over slow coals. The ashes are almost pure salt.

Another plant termed coltsfoot is Tussilago farfara. It also blooms in early spring before leaves appear and has large, toothed, basal leaves that are white and woolly underneath; the flower stalk consists of numerous scale-like leaves. The leaves are round, and the flowers have numerous ray flowers. It prefers moist, heavy soils and is reported only on Vancouver Island. This coltsfoot has been much used in cough and lung medicines and smoking mixtures.

Coltsfoot