The coltsfoot is a well-known medicinal plant, whose healthy ingredients are waiting for everyone free of charge. It grows wild in the local nature and can be easily spotted if you look closely. Coltsfoot may be gathered, for healing or just to eat. Here's how to track him down.
Coltsfoot flowers are collected in early spring
Usable plant parts
Coltsfoot is one of the wild plants where not a single part of the plant should be spurned. When collecting, the season and your own preference decide what ends up in the collection basket:
- blossoms
- shoots
- leaves
- root
collection time
At any time of the year, the coltsfoot offers something of itself to the industrious collector. Viewed in this way, the length of his collection period is identical to the calendar year. But it depends on what exactly you want to pick. Every part of the plant has its time and it can be as short as a few weeks.
- Flowering time is from February to April
- after the flowers have faded, the leaves follow
- from September the roots can be dug up
localities
Cow dung and sandflower are two other names for this weed. But also broad lettuce, hoof leaf, brook flowers and a few more. This shows how widespread and well-known the herb is in this country. So, wherever you are, there may well be coltsfoot growing around the corner. These are possible locations:
- paths or roadsides
- embankments
- gravel pitches
tips
The weed can also feel at home in cultivated gardens and settle there permanently. This is usually the case when the soil is calcareous.
identifying features
- Growth height: 10 to 5 cm
- Flowers: yellow, approx. 2 cm in size, radiating (similar to dandelion)
- they appear before the leaves
- stem: rough/scaly
- Seeds: arranged as in dandelion
- Leaf shoots: initially rolled up to a point
- Leaf shape: hoof-shaped, long-stalked,
- young specimens are covered with hair felt
risk of confusion
Coltsfoot flowers can be confused with dandelion flowers if collected at the wrong time. When the dandelion shows its blossoms, those of the coltsfoot have long since faded.
The leaves are likely to be confused with butterbur. An important differentiator is the size. Butterbur leaves are three times as large at up to 60 cm.
toxicity
Since coltsfoot contains small amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, it is considered slightly toxic. This ingredient is said to damage the liver. However, the weak concentration of the toxin does not stand in the way of consumption. To be on the safe side, only pregnant women, breastfeeding women and children should do without.