ABSTRACT
Coltsfoot, the dried leaves and/or flower heads of Tussilago farfara L., is one of those plants whose botanical name reflects its medicinal application. Tussilago derives from the Latin tussis, meaning cough, and the plant has long been used to treat that affliction. This member of the family Asteraceae is a low, perennial, woolly herb that early in the spring produces a flowering stem with a single terminal yellow flower head. After the flower stem dies down, the hoof-shaped leaves appear. The plant is native to Europe but grows widely in moist, sandy places in the northeastern and north central United States and southern Canada.1 Since the flowers and leaves appear at different times, they are collected and marketed separately.
