PlantFiles: Colts' Foot, Butterbur, Coughwort, Horsehoof
Tussilago farfara

I do not grow this plant, information only.

This plant is spread by rhizomes and by the dandelion-like seeds.It is found along roadsides and in waste places and the basal leaves are heart shaped and slightly toothed with a whitish underside.

It grows from Ontario east to Newfoundland and Nove Scotia, south to NC, west to TN and north to MN.

The common name is because of the supposed resemblance to a colt's foot. The genus name, from the Latin 'tussis'(cough) which is giving credit to the plant's reputation as a cure for coughs.

The extract of fresh leaves can be used in hard candy for cough drops and the leaves can be steeped for a cough suppressant tea.

The root and the flowers contain pyrolizidinic alkaloids that produce liver toxicity. The leaves contain very small amounts, but Tussilago farfara should be administrated with care, especially for children. The alkaloids acumulate in the liver, so the treatment should be short.

Native to Northern Europe, Colt's-foot is one of the earliest Spring flowers with clumps of scaly, purplish stems, each ending in a yellow flower-head. It rivals bulbous plants for early flowering because it has thick underground stems that store food. Large leaves arise direct from the ground after the flowers, each initially covered with thick, felt-like hairs and opening to make a dense, shady canopy beneath which few other plants survive.