Butterbur ordinary

The common butterbur, also known as Petasites hybridus, is a plant within the family of Asteraceae. Its distribution area covers northern Europe up to and including Scotland and north-western Germany.

The common butterbur grows as a perennial plant and reaches a height of growth of 10 to 40 cm at its flowering time, while it bears fruit up to 120 cm. The rhizome of the plant is about 4 cm thick and brownish in color.

The roundish leaves of butterbur can reach a diameter of up to 60 cm, while their underside is gray and hairy at first, later bare. The inflorescences appear between the months of March and May. The racemose inflorescence has numerous flowers of reddish-white or red-purple color.

Petasites hybridus is the parent plant of Petasitidis rhizoma, the butterbur. Butterbur leaves have a negative monograph of Commission E, not edited by ESCOP and HMPC, in empirical medicine they are used for bronchial asthma and rhinitis allergica.

The drug itself as wild material must not be used because of the pyrrolizide alkaloids it contains!

1. Wenigmann M. (2017) Phytotherapy medicinal drugs, phytopharmaceuticals, application. Urban & Fischer, p. 169,170