Tuesday 21 May Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) What’s the World’s
Favourite Species?Find out here. Butterbur fact file - Find out
more - Print factsheet Butterbur is so called as the huge
rhubarb-like leaves with their downy undersides were used to
wrap around butter in the days before refrigerators (4). The
leaves are still used today as impromptu sunshades or umbrellas;
indeed the name of the genusPetasites derives from the Greek
word petasos, a type of hat with a wide brim (5). The flowers of
butterbur appear before the leaves, often as early in the year
as February (4). The pink emerging flower stalks, pushing their
way through the earth, are similar in appearance to button
mushrooms, and in some parts of the country, butterbur plants
were known as ‘early mushrooms’ (5). When fully extended, the
stocky flower spikes are purplish towards the base, with pale
reddish-violet flowers (2). Functional male and female flowers
occur on separate plants; male flower spikes are shorter than
those belonging to female p