Coltsfoot

Category: Medicines - plant based

Type

Voluntary

Introduction and description

The correct botanical name of Coltsfoot is Tussilago farfara.  It is a member of the Asteraceae or Compositae family and other names for the plant include Cineraria farfara, Farfara radiata, Tussilago alpestris, and Tussilago umbertina.

Coltsfoot is a hardy perennial which grows wild in Europe, including Britain, from Norway south and east to N. Africa, western and northern Asia.  It can be found in hedgebanks, roadsides, wasteland, often as a pioneer, and on dunes and shingle in coastal zones.

It grows to 0.2 m (0ft 8in) by 1 m (3ft 3in) at a fast rate. It is in flower from Feb to April, and the seeds ripen from Mar to May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by bees and flies.  The plant is self-fertile.

Coltsfoot is a very easily grown plant, it succeeds in most soils when grown in full sun. It prefers a moist neutral to alkaline soil and will also succeed in partial shade. Plants are hardy to about -29°c. Coltsfoot is a very tough plant that is more than capable of looking after itself. When well sited, its roots will spread very freely sending up new shoots at some distance from the clump even if growing amongst dense weed competition. This can make it a problem weed in gardens. The rhizomes can lay dormant in the soil for many years, emerging when the soil is disturbed.

Coltsfoot can be eaten, but is more often thought of as a medicine.

Background

Coltsfoot has been used traditionally for lung diseases, from coughs, bronchitis, asthma to more serious lung problems.  As you will see from the observations, however, other uses are starting to emerge as its principal action is anti-bacterial.  Any skin disease that has a bacterial origin appears to be soothed by this plant.

Coltsfoot preserved in oil

It should be noted that the plant contains traces of liver-affecting pyrrolizidine alkaloids and is potentially toxic in large doses. These alkaloids have not proved toxic at low dosages in tests and there is no suggestion that this plant should not be used medicinally. Contraindicated during pregnancy and lactation.

The chemical constituents of the various parts of the plant are as follows:

Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases  - Chemicals in: Tussilago farfara L. (Asteraceae) – Coltsfoot

ppm = parts per million
tr = trace

Method

The flower buds and young flowers can be eaten raw or cooked. They have a pleasant aniseed flavour and add a distinctive aromatic flavour to salads. The young leaves can also be eaten raw or cooked.  They can be used in salads, added to soups, or cooked as a vegetable. The leaves have a bitter taste unless they are washed after being boiled.

An aromatic tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves and flowers. It has a liquorice-like flavour. The commonly held belief thta the dried and burnt leaves have been used as a salt substitute is apparently incorrect and attributed to the wrong plant. The slender rootstock has been candied in sugar syrup.

Related observations

Healing observations

• Antitubercular activity of Arctium lappa and Tussilago farfara extracts and constituents 017003
• Coltsfoot - Medicinal Plants of the Russian Pharmacopoeia 011339
• Culpepper's Complete Herbal on Coltsfoot 011293
• Dr Duke's list of Plants Containing QUERCETIN 021446
• Dr Duke's list of Plants with Antiretroviral activity 018318
• Dr Duke's list of plants with hemopoietic effects - 2 All plants with activity 012485
• Influenza and Isoquercetin 010387
• Lotus flowers, diabetes and atherosclerosis 010390
• Mrs Grieve on Coltsfoot 011292
• Plants for a Future on Coltsfoot 011294
• Yakammaoto inhibited human coxsackievirus B4 (CVB4)-induced airway and renal tubular injuries by preventing viral attachment, internalization, and replication 020885

Wisdom, Inspiration, Divine love & Bliss

• Barker, Cicely Mary - The Coltsfoot Fairy 001638

In time

Synaesthesia, Pure or enhanced perception, Inter composer communication, Vision, Dream, Perception recall, Exploring group perception

• Danielou, Alain – On drugs you are possessed by the spirit being of the drug 022582