Coltsfoot Leaf

Western Bulk Herbs – Coltsfoot

Coltsfoot is used herbs for the treatment of coughs and other lung problems. It’s helpful in the case of racking coughs such as from chest colds, asthma and emphysema.

Latin Name:
Tussilago farfara

Common Names:
Tussilago farfara, Horsehoof, Coughwort, Fieldhove, Bullsfoot, Cleats, Clayweed, Tusilago, and Ass’s Foot

Parts Used:
Leaves, and sometimes the buds and flowers

Properties:
All parts of the plant abound in mucilage and contain a little tannin and a trace of a bitter amorphous glucoside.

Traditional Uses:
Demulcent, expectorant and tonic.

Topical Uses / Applications:
Infusion, tea, syrup, capsules and extracts

Culinary Uses:
Not used in cooking.

Chemical Properties:
mucilage, including numerous sugars; inulin; flavonoids, rutin, isoquercetin, tannin; pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

Cautions:
Coltsfoot should not be used by pregnant or nursing mothers. Should not be used longer than 4 – 6 weeks. Should not be used by individuals with a history of liver disease.

Folk Lore:
Coltsfoot has a long history of use starting with recommendation from Dioscorides, Galen, Pliny, Boyle, and other great authorities, both ancient and modern herbalist. The leaves were smoked to relieve a cough. The Swedes used it for this purpose.

American colonists brought it to the American colonies and used to wrap up a person with whooping cough in blankets that was soaked with coltsfoot. Traditional Asian folk medicine use it to treat asthma, dry cough and bronchitis and it is named “nature’s best herb for the lungs”.

*Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Resources:
PDR for Herbal Medicines, 2000. Medical Economics Company, Montvale, New Jersey.

The New Holistic Herbal. David Hoffmann, 1990. Barnes and Noble Books, New York.

A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve, (Dover Publications, New York, 1971)

Major Herbs of Ayurvedic.Compiled by Dahur Research Foundation and Dahur Ayurvet Limited, Ghaziabad, India., 2002. Churchill Livingstone, London, England.

Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, Third Edition, Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble, 1986. Eastland Press, Seattle, WA.