Tussilago farfara, SE: Hästhov, DE: Huflattich, NL: Klein hoefblad,
UK: Coltsfoot, Baccy plant, Ooor-man's baccy,
Foal's-foot, Cough wort, Son-before-father

Scientific name:  Tussilago farfara L.
Swedish name:  Hästhov
German name:  Huflattich
Nederlandse naam:  Klein hoefblad
English name:  Coltsfoot, baccy plant, poor-man's baccy, foal's-foot, cough wort, son-before-father
Family:  Asteraceae, Compositae, Korgblommiga

Vilda blommor i Sverige, Flowers, Sweden, Ragunda

Life form:  Perennial species that arises from rhizomes
Stems:  Height 5–30 cm, unbranched, white-felted
Leaves:  Rosette, large, animal hooves shape, with thick felt-covered undersides
Flowers:  Yellow, closes at night and in poor weather
Flowering Period:  March-April
Fruits:  Cypsela (dry single-seeded fruit) crowned by a tuft of unbranched hairs
Habitat:  Throughout the country, Coast, pastureland, meadows, farmland, settlements

Sweden, Botany, Flora


Derivation of the botanical name:
Tussilago from the latin Tussis for "cough", and hints at the widespread smoking of the dried leaves in folk-medicine to cure coughs. It is still smoked in some areas today as herbal tobacco, and the names ‘baccy plant' and ‘poor-man's-baccy' survive in some parts of Britain.
Farfara, Pliny, is a Latin name for the plant.
The name ‘son-before-father' refers to the fact that the yellow flowers held on purplish woolly shoots are often present before the leaves.
The name colt's or foal's-foot refers to the fact that the leaves are similar in shape to animal hooves.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

Swedish wildflowers