regnum-plantae:

Tussilago farfara, Asteraceae

I feel like it’s been a really good while since I’ve had a chance to write about native wildflowers while they are in bloom, but the other day I finally went for a short walk and found one of the heralds generally announcing the end of winter- it’s already spring, but we’re expecting more snow and it’s still pretty cold here in central Scotland. Coltsfoot is a well known hardy perennial native to Europe, the Mediterranean and parts of Asia, generally found in a wide range of conditions and at different altitudes and easily recognisable due to the bright yellow flower heads typical of its family and quite similar to dandelions (Taraxacum officinale). The flower stalks usually push through the moist soil during the first few warmer days of the year, well before the large cordate leaves, so the plant was known as filius ante patrem (the son before the father) with a Latin periphrasis in medieval Italy. Once the leaves are out, colonies of the plant work well as an efficient groundcover, but it tends to spread around freely so, if desired, it might work better in a container, buried or not.   

One of the first plants I learnt to identify as a six-year-old thanks to that old medicinal plants book I mentioned here and there, it has a really long history of traditional use. Interestingly, it isn’t flagged in the book as potentially dangerous or toxic like others, but that’s because in the 70s they just didn’t know yet. Although it is reportedly even edible as the cooking process reduces its toxicity, I think we should just leave coltsfoot alone and let it tell us when spring is coming (hopefully).