Omnia SanaThis tool aids identification but does not replace an expert. Never eat a wild plant or fungus on the strength of a single feature. When in doubt, throw it out.
Butterbur can be confused with 1 dangerous plant/fungus. Check every distinguishing feature before you trust an identification.
A large-leaved plant of damp mountain woods whose rounded leaves resemble coltsfoot and butterbur. It contains hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids; gathered in mistake for coltsfoot and brewed as tea it has caused hepatic veno-occlusive disease, including a documented case of severe liver disease in an infant, and cumulatively damages the liver. The plants are easily confused, especially after flowering.
Confusable part: Very large rounded leaves and rhizome gathered for use; alpendost has similar large rounded leaves and the same hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) has very large rounded leaves and is used medicinally (as pyrrolizidine-free standardised extracts). In the wild its foliage is confused with alpendost (Adenostyles alliariae) and coltsfoot, all large-leaved damp-ground plants. Alpendost contains hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids and, gathered in mistake for coltsfoot/butterbur and brewed as tea, has caused liver veno-occlusive disease (Sperl et al., 1995). Butterbur's own raw leaves also contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, so wild butterbur should only be used as tested, PA-free products rather than home-gathered material.
How to tell them apart
- Leaf: butterbur has enormous rounded leaves (up to about 1 m across when mature) on stout stalks; alpendost leaves are large but smaller and more coarsely toothed. Neither should be brewed from home-gathered material.
- Flowers: butterbur pushes up thick pinkish flower spikes in early spring before the leaves; alpendost has fluffy whitish-pink flower clusters among its leaves in summer.
- Best practice: do not brew wild butterbur or its large-leaved lookalikes at all - use only standardised, pyrrolizidine-free commercial butterbur preparations.
Do not gather large rounded 'butterbur' leaves for tea - butterbur, alpendost and coltsfoot all look alike and carry liver-damaging pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Use only standardised, pyrrolizidine-free commercial butterbur products rather than home-collected leaves.
Educational identification aid compiled from the Omnia Sana plant database and cited botanical and toxicological sources. Not medical advice and not a substitute for expert identification.