Coltsfoot

About

Coltsfoot is one of the first flowers of the year. In March and April, short fluffy stems 5–25 cm tall with scales instead of leaves and one bright yellow flower head at the top emerge from the ground on clay slopes, screes, in ravines, along riverbanks, and on road verges. The plant is widespread throughout Ukraine, mainly in Polissia, the northern Forest-Steppe, in the Carpathians, and in Transcarpathia, and readily colonizes disturbed soils.

Leaves appear only after flowering. They are large, 10–25 cm wide, round-heart-shaped, angular, with uneven teeth. The folk explanation of the name connects it to the leaf: the top is smooth and cold, like a 'stepmother', while the underside is covered with white warm hairs, like a 'mother'. The underground creeping rhizome allows the plant to quickly occupy bare soil.

Coltsfoot has long been considered a folk remedy, and its Latin name even derives from the word 'cough'. However, the plant contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, including senecionine and senkirkine, which damage the liver and may have carcinogenic effects. For this reason, the sale of Coltsfoot has been banned in Germany, and later a special variety without these alkaloids was developed there and in Austria.

Therefore, it is not advisable to collect and brew Coltsfoot on your own, especially for children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. It is better to admire the first flowers of spring along the route. It is easy to distinguish it from dandelion: Coltsfoot has scales on the flower stalk instead of leaves and blooms without leaves, while dandelion has a rosette of jagged leaves and a hollow smooth stem with milky sap.

Where in the Carpathians

The map shows where naturalists recorded the species (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY records), not every place it lives. The Ukrainian Carpathians are less studied, so a blank area does not mean the species is absent.

Countries

Slovakia · Czechia · Poland · Ukraine · Romania · Hungary · Austria · Serbia

Mountain ranges

Greater Fatra, Strážov Mountains, White Carpathians, Low Tatras, Lesser Fatra, Štiavnica Mountains, Moravian-Silesian Beskids, Slovak Ore Mountains, Kysuce Beskids, Volovec Mountains

Altitude belts

Foothills (below 600 m) · Beech forests (600–1200 m)

When to see it

From naturalists’ observations in the Carpathians (iNaturalist, research grade): the darker the cell, the more often the species is seen that month.

Safety

Contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that harm the liver. Do not collect or brew on your own, especially for children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.

Look-alikes — how to tell them apart

In folk tradition

In folk tradition, leaves and flowers were brewed as tea, but due to pyrrolizidine alkaloids, self-consumption is not recommended.

Protection and rules

Not protected.

FAQ