Coltsfoot a spring herb

jowitt.europe

Coltsfoot

(Tussilago farfara) another beautiful flower for my salad

Every day brings a new delicious and beautiful addition to my kitchen. Today it is a coltsfoot flower. The leaves will come much later. Now I have two edible flowers for decoration: the daisy and the coltsfoot.

Both are very good herbs. Coltsfoot has been used for ages  in folk medicine for coughs, for dissolving mucus, for colds, flu and fever. Modern research added that it is good for decreasing inflammation, promoting brain health, and treating chronic coughing. 

The research has also shown that it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which may damage liver. However, as already said by Paracelsus in the 16th century: “The dose makes the poison”.  Thus a cup or two for cough not longer than a week or lovely flowers on salad or in soup will do no harm. But! I apply this rule only to healthy people. I am enjoying my first coltsfoot blossoms. 

Do not take it if you are pregnant or nursing and I would not give it to small children.

karenjanicki

Cool! I have never used coltsfoot so thank you for the information!

Monek Marie

I love coltsfoot. It was the first herb/weed I identified and its really the reason I took an interest in what many call a nuisance weed. It lines the roads around here and any poor soil areas and adds such pretty color in the early spring

You can also burn the leaves and use them as a salt substitute. A local tribal leader taught me this.

Torey

The Coltsfoot species we have here in BC are Petasites species. P. frigidus var. saggitata , P. frigidus var. nivalis and P. frigidus var. palmatus. All with different leaf structure. Ours have pinkish white flowers compared to your pretty yellow Tussilago. There is another species that has become invasive in south coastal BC. P. japonica (Japanese Butterbur). Awesome cough medicine. The antispasmodic properties make it a good one for asthmatic coughing or for whooping cough and bronchitis. First Nations in my area used a decoction of the root to treat TB as well.

Sometimes called Son-before-the-Father because of the flower stem appearing before the leaves.

jowitt.europe

@torey thank you! You are a real encyclopaedia - well much better. I did not know that there are so many different varieties. I have read that there is an artificially developed species without pyrrolizidine, so that it can be used as a drug. I will have a look how all the other ones you mentioned look like.

jowitt.europe

@Denise Grant can you tell more about how one makes salt substitute out of burnt leaves. It sounds very interesting. I am always looking for salt substitutes for people suffering from high blood pressure.

Torey

@jolanta.wittib Its the leaf structures that set them apart from each other. This link will take you to the main Petasites page and then you can click on the varietals, part way down the page (just below the pic) and it will take you to a page for each variation. https://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Petasites%20frigidus&redblue=Both&lifeform=7

I hadn't heard about the new species developed. When Coltsfoot is taken as a medicine it is in small amounts that should be safe enough. The warnings about the pyrrolizidine alkaloids are more for when using PA-containing plants in larger quantities for food. That being said, the tests that were done on PAs used rats that were fed huge amounts. Much larger amounts than humans would ever eat. So as you say, its all about amounts. And we still must include those cautions so that we aren't getting ourselves in trouble. :)

Monek Marie

@jolanta.wittib Here's a website with information. i guess there are other plants you can extract salt from too but I was just told about coltsfoot

https://practicalselfreliance.com/coltsfoot-salt/

And this link has several plants you can use for a salt substitute

https://www.wikihow.com/Extract-Salt-from-Plants

Aren't plants amazing?

happy-trails

Denise Grant - burning the leaves of coltsfoot for a salt substitute? Wow, I had no idea!! So amazing... thank you for the info; I'll also check out those article links you shared above. Have you tried it, and did it taste similar to sea salt?

jowitt.europe

@torey this is an extra t from Wikipedia

“In response, the German government banned the sale of coltsfoot. Clonal plants of coltsfoot free of pyrrolizidine alkaloids were then developed in Austria and Germany.[23] This has resulted in the development of the registered variety Tussilago farfara'Wien', which has no detectable levels of these alkaloids.[24]”

since 1990 Tussilago was banned in Germany and Austria, but it continued to be used in folk medicine and, I am sure, that the ones, who used the wild plant, continue doing that and do not buy the modified one (including me). When I was attending courses on herbal teaching, we were discussing the issue of dosis.

jowitt.europe

@Denise Grant I have read both articles with great interest. I am running a workshop on herbal salt and I might include this experimenting as I have a lot of dries coltsfoot leaves at home. Interesting that the smoking of the leaves might also help to fight respiratory diseases, but, my doubt is - how healthy, or safe it is to consume the ashes - the burnt product. Any idea?

Monek Marie

@jolanta.wittib I do not know about the safety and that is a good question. I just know my native american friend used it a lot and so had their family and ancestors. I know that they did smoke it but they smoke a lot of different items I would not - but I don't handle smoke of any kind very well.

If I can get a hold of my one friend I will ask.

Your herbal salt workshop sounds very interesting

Monek Marie

Coltsfoot is finally coming up in this area. Larer this week it will be out in larger numbers

I am trying to harvest as I see things to keep ahead of everything, lol.

My niece did not know what coltsfoot was so I took her over to look at it and check out the plant.