Butterbur  (Petasites hybridus)

Butterbur is so called as the huge rhubarb-like leaves with their downy undersides were used to wrap around butter in the days before refrigerators (4). The leaves are still used today as impromptu sunshades or umbrellas; indeed the name of the genus Petasites derives from the Greek word petasos, a type of hat with a wide brim (5). The flowers of butterbur appear before the leaves, often as early in the year as February (4). The pink emerging flower stalks, pushing their way through the earth, are similar in appearance to button mushrooms, and in some parts of the country, butterbur plants were known as ‘early mushrooms’ (5). When fully extended, the stocky flower spikes are purplish towards the base, with pale reddish-violet flowers (2). Functional male and female flowers occur on separate plants; male flower spikes are shorter than those belonging to female plants (2).