Butterbur

Description:

They are mostly quite robust plants with thick, creeping underground rhizomes and large Rhubarb-like leaves during the growing season. Another common name for many species of this genus is Sweet Coltsfoot.

Habitat:

The short spikes of flowers are produced just before the leaves in spring, emerging with only a few elongated basal bracts and are usually green, flesh coloured or dull white depending on species. Butterburs are found in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere and usually found nears banks of rivers or streams but this I found them found on the mountain Sljeme (around 1000 m) in the mixed beech and fir forest.

Notes:

One of many plants that in the middle ages were thought to ward of plague this plant has an unpleasant smell. In modern times medicnes with butterbur are used to treat acute urinary tract pain and as a preventive for migraines.Several double-blind studies have shown that high doses of extracts of Petasites hybridus root, presumably containing petasin and/or isopetasin, are effective both in preventing and in relieving migraine, with the best results coming in more severe cases, but with gastrointestinal side effects. Butterbur was used by native Americans as a remedy for headache and inflammation, and it was made a study confirm that by showing Butterbur extract to be an effective treatment for hay fever without the sedative effect of the antihistamine cetirizine