coltsfoot

Coltsfoot

Spring is my favourite time of year, more and more wildflowers appear every walk I take at the moment. If every month had a colour, I think April’s would be yellow, with Daffodils, Dandelions and Coltsfoot! These bright sunshine yellow flower heads, appear one per scaly stem, before the leaves emerge. They are a member of the daisy family and the flower head is actually a collection of florets (tiny flowers), it is another early source of nectar for bees and other pollinators, and later the seeds are loved by birds. Coltsfoot is best known for its use as a cough remedy, used for both dry, irritable coughs and whooping cough. It is so widely used it became the symbol of an apothecary (a person who prepared and sold medicines and drugs) in France and was depicted on every apothecary’s door.

By River Six Photo by Pixabay