Woodland Trust

Nature's CalendarNature Detectives

Keep your eyes peeled for the first snowdrop flowers opening - record them on our survey!

Colt's-footColt's-foot. Andreas Trepte

Tussilago farfara

  • Broad, simple triangular shaped leaves, which appear after flowering
     
  • Small, yellow, daisy-like compound flowers on an erect scaly stem in the spring.
     

Colt's-foot. Miranda HodgsonWhere found

Absolutely anywhere. It’s considered a weed and springs up in almost any soil, from dune to wasteland, roadside to hedgerow.
 

When to look for

  • All year round for the leaves
      
  • February-April for the flowers


Fabulous colt's-foot facts

  • The name 'tussilago' means 'cough suppressant'. Historically the plant has been used to alleviate lung ailments such as asthma and coughs

  • For many centuries, beer made from the bitter leaves of colt's-foot was brewed as a remedy for coughs

  • Dried coltsfoot is often used as a tobacco alternative

  • Colt's-foot rock, a confectionary product developed in the 1920s by Stockley's Sweets of Oswaltwhistle, has become a favourite medicinal sweet around the world

  • Colt's-foot is now known to contain alkaloids that are harmful to the human liver

  • It is a food plant for some lepidoptera species including The Gothic and Small Angle Shades moths