Tussilago farfara L.

Herb with stout rootstock and rhizomes. Basal lvs glabrous on upper surface, moderately to densely lanate on lower; petiole hairy, > lamina, 3-35 cm long; lamina reniform to suborbicular, cordate, acute, shallowly lobed and again denticulate, 3-20 cm diam.; lobes with flat or concave sides. Infl. usually appearing before lvs, erect, 5-30 cm tall; cauline lvs > 10, ovate-triangular, entire, c. 1 cm long. Supplementary bracts 0-2. Involucral bracts c. 20, linear-to ovate-oblong, 9-14 mm long. Ray florets numerous; ligules yellow, linear, 3-5 mm long. Achenes 3-5 mm long.

A temperate plant. It does best in wet, loamy, limestone based soils. It needs a protected, partly shaded position. It often grows naturally on moist river banks. It suits hardiness zones 3-9. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Young leaves are boiled and washed to remove tannin then eaten with oil and salt. The older leaves are eaten as a vegetable. They are also used in soup. The leaves are used for sarma in Turkey. They are rolled around a filling of rice or minced meat. The dried leaves can be soaked to make a fragrant tea, or burned and the residue used as a salt like seasoning. The ash from the plant is used as a salt substitute. The flowers and stalk are also eaten raw. The flowers are used for wine. The dried flowers are used for tea. The rootstock is candied in syrup. The slender rootstock is candied in sugar. CAUTION: It contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids that cause cancer but these are destroyed with heating.

Plants can be grown from seed or by division.