coltsfoot

1. A low perennial Eurasian herb (Tussilago farfara) in the composite family, naturalized in parts of North America and having dandelionlike flower heads and large, hoof-shaped basal leaves.
2. The dried leaves or flower heads of this plant, long used in herbal medicine to treat coughs.
3. See galax.

[From the shape of its leaves.]

Description

Coltsfoot is the plant Tussilago farfara, a member of the daisy family (Asteraceae). Coltsfoot is a perennial herb that grows to a height of 4-10 inches (10-25 cm). The stem is covered with white, downy fibers. Its leaves are hoof-shaped, and the flowers are yellow. The leaves, flowers, and occasionally the root are used medicinally.

Coltsfoot is a tough, invasive plant that lives in marginal soil, wasteland, roadsides, and sand dunes. In some areas coltsfoot is considered an undesirable weed. Although native to Europe, coltsfoot grows wild in North America and the temperate parts of China. Other names for coltsfoot are cough wort, horsefoot, horsehoof, bull's foot, ass's foot, foal's foot, British tobacco, butterbur, field hove, and flower velure. In Chinese it is called kuan dong hua.

General Use

Coltsfoot has been used as a cough remedy in both Western herbalism and traditional Chinese medicine for at least 2,500 years. Coltsfoot was such a well-known and well-respected herb in eighteenth century France that apothecary shops advertised their presence by painting a picture of the herb on their signs. Chinese herbalists prefer to use the flower and flower buds, while Western herbalists most often choose to use the leaves.

Coltsfoot is recommended to treat:

• asthma
• bronchitis
• dry, hacking cough
• laryngitis and hoarseness
• lung cancer symptoms
• mouth and throat irritations
• sore throat
• wheezing

A decoction (boiling the herb down to a concentrated broth or tea to be taken internally) of coltsfoot root is sometimes used to induce sweating. Externally, a poultice of flowers is sometimes applied to the skin to treat eczema, stings, bites, and skin inflammations. Sometimes coltsfoot leaves are smoked to relieve cough.

Modern scientific investigation shows that coltsfoot contains a substance called mucilage (about 8%) that coats and soothes the throat. It is the presence of this substance that appears to make coltsfoot so effective in treating coughs and respiratory problems. Coltsfoot tea also appears to help clear the airways of mucus in some animal studies. Smoking coltsfoot will probably do more to irritate the throat than to soothe it.

Inhaling steam from a pot of boiling coltsfoot leaves is likely to produce little effect because so little of the medicinal material will reach the throat. The German Federal Health Agency's Commission E, established in 1978 to independently review and evaluate scientific literature and case studies pertaining to herb and plant medications, has approved the use of fresh or dried coltsfoot leaf in products to treat dry cough, hoarseness, and mild throat or mouth inflammations.

Despite evidence that coltsfoot does generally work, it is not without its problems. The leaves, and to a greater degree the buds and flowers, contain compounds called pyrrolizidine alkaloids. These compounds are known to damage the liver. They can cause liver cancer with extended exposure and may also cause the blood vessels of the liver to narrow dangerously. In one laboratory study, rats fed a diet of coltsfoot flower developed a high rate of cancerous liver tumors.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has labeled coltsfoot an herb of "undefined safety." Coltsfoot leaf also falls under some legal restrictions in Austria. German authorities, however, simply recommend that preparations containing coltsfoot leaf should not be taken for more than four to six weeks each year. There is, however, fairly unanimous agreement that the level of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in coltsfoot flowers is much higher than the level found in the leaves, and that medicinal preparations that use the flower or flower bud should be avoided. Some American herbalists are recommending that the internal use of coltsfoot be discontinued as a precaution until further research clarifies the risks involved.

Preparations

Coltsfoot leaves are harvested in early summer and can be used fresh or dried. In China, the flower heads are dug up in winter, before they emerge from the ground. When the root is used, it is harvested in the autumn.

Coltsfoot is most commonly prepared as a tea. It can also be made into a cough syrup when combined with licorice, thyme, or black cherry. Commercial preparations are also available.

Precautions

The safest course is to avoid the internal use of coltsfoot. Pregnant and nursing women and children under the age of six should not be given coltsfoot. People who choose to use coltsfoot should avoid ingesting more than 1 gram of pyrrolizidine alkaloids daily. However, accurate measurement of pyrrolizidine alkaloids is difficult and this information is not easily available to many consumers.

Side Effects

Coltsfoot is believed to increase the incidence of liver damage and cancerous liver tumors in both laboratory animals and humans.

Interactions

There are no studies of the interactions of coltsfoot with conventional pharmaceuticals or other herbal remedies.

Resources

Books

Chevallier, Andrew. Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. New York: DK Publishing, Inc., 1996.

PDR for Herbal Medicines. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, 1999.

Peirce, Andrea. The American Pharmaceutical Association Practical Guide to Natural Medicines. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1999.

Weiner, Michael and Janet Weiner. Herbs that Heal. Mill Valley, CA: Quantum Books, 1999.

Other

Plants for a Future "Tussilago farfara." http://www.pfaf.org.

[Article by: Tish Davidson]

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: perennial herb with large rounded leaves resembling a colt's foot and yellow flowers appearing before the leaves do; native to Europe but now nearly cosmopolitan; used medicinally especially formerly
  Synonym: Tussilago farfara

Coltsfoot
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Asterales
Family:	Asteraceae
Genus:	Tussilago
Species:	T. farfara
Binomial name
Tussilago farfara L.

Tussilago farfara, commonly known as Coltsfoot, is a plant in the family Asteraceae.

It has been used medicinally as a cough suppressant. The name "tussilago" itself means "cough suppressant." The plant has been used historically to treat lung ailments such as asthma as well as various coughs by way of smoking. Crushed flowers supposedly cured skin conditions, and the plant has been consumed as a food product.

The discovery of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the plant has resulted in liver health concerns.

Contents 1 Description 2 Distribution 3 Synonym 4 Uses 5 Toxicity 6 Gallery 7 References 8 External links

Description

Coltsfoot is a perennial herbaceous plant that spreads by seeds and rhizomes. Tussilago is often found in colonies of dozens of plants. The flowers, which superficially resemble dandelions, appear in early spring before dandelions appear. The leaves, which resemble a colt's foot in cross section, do not appear usually until after the seeds are set. Thus, the flowers appear on stems with no apparent leaves, and the later appearing leaves then wither and die during the season without seeming to set flowers. The plant is typically between 10 - 30 cm in height.

Distribution

Coltsfoot is native to several locations in Europe and Asia. It is also a common plant in North America and South America where it has been introduced, most likely by settlers as a medicinal item. The plant is often found in waste and disturbed places and along roadsides and paths. In some areas it is considered an invasive species.

Synonym

Other common names include Ass's foot, Bull's foot, Butterbur, Coughwort, Farfara, Foal's foot, Foalswort, Horse Foot and Winter heliotrope. Sometimes it is confused with Petasites frigidus, or Western Coltsfoot.

Uses

Coltsfoot is used as a food plant by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Gothic and Small Angle Shades. The Coltsfoot is also worked by the honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera). Dried coltsfoot is often used as a tobacco alternative, notably in Amsterdam, since the legal status of tobacco was tightened in August 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Coltsfoot has also become a popular confectionery product made by using Coltsfoot essence to create a hardened rock that is used to soothe sore throats and chesty coughs; the recipe has been developed exclusively by Stockley's Sweets of Oswaldtwistle, UK and has become a favourite medicinal sweet around the globe known simply as Coltsfoot rock.

Toxicity

Tussilago farfara contains tumorigenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.^[1] Senecionine and senkirkine, present in colstfoot, have the highest mutagenetic activity of any pyrrolozidine alkaloid, tested using Drosophila melanogaster to produce a comparative genotoxicity test.^[2][3] There are documented cases of coltsfoot tea causing severe liver problems in an infant, and in another case, an infant developed liver disease and died because the mother drank tea containing coltsfoot during her pregnancy.^[4][5] In response the German government banned the sale of coltsfoot. Clonal plants of colstfoot free of pyrrolizidine alkaloids were then developed in Austria and Germany.^[6]

Gallery

Inflorescencias

Close-up of an inflorescence

Foliage

A group of plants in bloom

Detail of early flower

References

1. ^ Fu, P.P., Yang, Y.C., Xia, Q., Chou, M.C., Cui, Y.Y., Lin G., "Pyrrolizidine alkaloids-tumorigenic components in Chinese herbal medicines and dietary supplements", Journal of Food and Drug Analysis, Vol. 10, No. 4, 2002, pp. 198-211[1]
2. ^ Röder, E., "Medicinal plants in Europe containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids", Pharmazie, 1995, pp83-98. Reprinted on Henriette's Herbal website.[2]
3. ^ Frei, H.J., Luethy, J., Brauchli, L., Zweifel, U., Wuergler, F.E., & Schlatter, C., Chem. Biol. Interact., 83: 1, 1992
4. ^ Sperl, W., Stuppner, H., Gassner, I.; "Reversible hepatic veno-occlusive disease in an infant after consumption of pyrrolizidine-containing herbal tea." Eur J Pediatr. 1995;154:112–6.
5. ^ Roulet, M., Laurini, R., Rivier, L., Calame, A.; "Hepatic veno-occlusive disease in newborn infant of a woman drinking herbal tea." J Pediatrics. 1988;112:433–6.
6. ^ Wawrosch, Ch.; Kopp, B.; Wiederfield, H.; "Permanent monitoring of pyrrolizidine alkaloid content in micropropagated Tussilago farfara L. : A tool to fulfill statutory demands for the quality of coltsfoot in Austria and Germany", Acta horticulturae, 2000, no. 530, pp469-472[3]

• R. Schubert & G. Wagner: Botanisches Wörterbuch Ulmer, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8252-1476-1 (German)
• H. Haeupler & Th. Muer: Bildatlas der Farn- und Blütenpflanzen Deutschlands Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart, 2000. ISBN 3-8001-3364-4. (German)
• Gerhard Madaus: Lehrbuch der biologischen Heilmittel Bd 1. Heilpflanzen. G. Thieme, Leipzig 1938, Olms, Hildesheim 1979. ISBN 3-487-05890-1 (German)
• Guide des plantes sauvages comestibles et toxiques, les guides du naturaliste, François Couplan et Eva Stinner ISBN 2 603 00952 4 (French)
• Кирпичников М. Э. Семейство сложноцветные, или астровые (Asteraceae, или Compositae) // Жизнь растений. В 6-ти т. / Под ред. А. Л. Тахтаджяна. — М.: Просвещение, 1981. — Т. 5. Ч. 2. Цветковые растения. — С. 462—476. — 300000 экз. (Russian)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tussilago farfara

Wikispecies has information related to: Tussilago

• U.S. Dept. of Agriculture PLANTS database
• Coltsfoot information

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