Coltsfoot

Since I’m in Lincoln with an hour to spare I’m off to Whisby Nature Park. It’s a classic exhausted gravel pit which is useless for anything else but being used as parkland. The natural world has a small chance of establishing itself here.

Whisby - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

These yellow flowers draw my eye to them. It looks like Coltsfoot. I remember it from being a child. I was told it was good for coughs and was originally called Coughwort.

Coltsfoot - Whisby - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Its scientific name is Tussilago farfara. Tussis is from the Latin for cough, just like pertussis is whooping cough. I also remember how its leaves appear only after the flower has set seed. I always thought that was strange.

It’s lovely to see it again. Which plants do you remember learning about as a child?

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