Butterbur

Fond of moist ground, Butterbur is a pink, tassled wildflower can often be found carpeting riversides and damp ditches.

With so many small flowers packed densely together, Butterbur is very popular with bees. It is a great source of nectar early in the year, when wildflowers are still rather sparse.

How to spot it

Flower spikes appear before the leaves and have tiny pale pink flowers arranged down stems which are 10-40cm tall. The leaves are very large, sometimes almost 1 meter wide and are downy-grey underneath.

Things you might not know

• Butterbur’s common name comes from its large, heart-shaped leaves that were historically used to wrap butter
• The leaves can grow up to almost 1 metre wide – in fact, they’re so big, they’ve been used for umbrellas and sun shades
• Butterbur also has a few nicknames stemming from it’s leaves including Devil’s Hat and Umbrella Plant
• Historically, Butterbur was nicknamed Pestilence Wort, which referred to its past use as a remedy for the plague
• Its scientific name Petasites hybridus, is derived from the Greek petasos, meaning a ‘broad-brimmed felt hat’ which again refers to the plants enormous leaves