More and more people want to trust Mother Nature when it comes to fighting diseases. Coltsfoot is a wild herb that is said to work wonders for respiratory problems. When collecting, clear identification is mandatory. Which plants are there a risk of confusion with?
What plants can coltsfoot be confused with?
Confusion when collecting coltsfoot can happen with dandelion or butterbur. Dandelions have similar flowers but familiar green leaves. Butterbur has similar leaves, but larger and more rounded. None of these plants are poisonous and have he alth benefits.
Flowers like dandelions
Coltsfoot blooms sunny yellow, just like the omnipresent dandelion. The shape and size of the flowers are not dissimilar, but confusion is hardly conceivable. The dandelion is too familiar to us to mistake it for coltsfoot. Just in case, we list the distinguishing features:
- The coltsfoot flower is usually a little smaller
- its stem is scaled
- the flowering period is from February to April
- during flowering the leaves have not yet sprouted
- Dandelions, on the other hand, bloom from April to June and later
- only after the green leaves have formed
Tip
The leaves of these two plants are so different that there is no risk of confusion between them.
Leaf similarities with butterbur
Butterbur and coltsfoot are old neighbors as they prefer the same locations. Their leaves have many similarities. If you are not familiar with their size and details, you can quickly make a mistake. The mistake goes unnoticed at home. If you want to avoid confusion, you should be careful when picking.
- the risk of confusion is higher with young leaves
- full-grown butterbur leaves are larger than coltsfoot
- they can reach up to 60 cm in diameter
- Coltsfoot only reaches 10 to 20 cm
- They are sawn more gently and appear much rounder
Dangers of confusion
If wild plants are confused with each other, it can be dangerous for people. Damage to he alth or even danger to life can be the consequences if, contrary to expectations, the collected material is toxic.
If dandelions or butterbur are accidentally picked up when collecting coltsfoot, no dramatic effects are to be expected. Like coltsfoot, they are not poisonous. Butterbur even has similar healing properties. The dandelion is edible and a very he althy wild plant. However, if the healing power of coltsfoot is expected, the dandelion cannot serve with it.
Poisonous Doppelgangers
There are no known poisonous plants in this country that could accidentally be mistaken for coltsfoot by uninformed hobby collectors.
