Butterbur - Petasites hybridus

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Butterbur - Petasites hybridus
© Dr Chris Gibson/English Nature

The dense and globular, yellowish-lilac flowers of butterbur appear early in the year when only the reddish leaf scales have developed. The honey-scented flowers are popular with early queen bees. After flowering, huge, heart-shaped leaves develop which were once used for wrapping butter - hence its name. These leaves are the largest of any native British plant, and can measure almost a metre across. They therefore also make very serviceable umbrellas or even sunhats - the botanical name derives from the Greek for 'hat'! The whole plant is covered with cobweb-like hairs.

Butterbur will thrive in damp or shady conditions and will make an early flowering contribution to a bog garden where they will be visited by bees. The plant is found in the wild on open ground that floods regularly, and along streams and canal banks. In southern England, nearly all butterbur plants are male; the looser, later-flowering female plants are found mainly under shade in northern and central England.

Various craneflies live in the roots or leaf bases and bees like the huge flowers. The species even has its own moth: the butterbur moth.

Animals

Bees and wasps, Flies, Moths

Foliage	Green
Flower	Purple, April to May
Moisture	(Average)
Sunlight	(Full sun to Part-shade)
Origin	Native