Coltsfoot C/S

Also Known As - Tussilago farfara, winter heliotrope, bechion, bechichie, bechie, donnhove, butterbur, tash plant, farfara, foal's foot, foalswort, horse foot, ass's foot, bull's foot, cleats, coughwort and fieldhove.

Origin - USA, Wild Crafted

Overview -  Coltsfoot is a curious herb which seems to grow in 2 distinct stages. Very early in the growing season, the plant develops flat orange flower heads. Only after the flowers have withered do the broad, hoof-shaped, sea-green leaves develop. This habit of growth earned coltsfoot its old name of Filius ante patrem (the son before the father).

• Smoking coltsfoot for coughs and asthma was recommended by Dioscorides, the Greek physician. The Latin name of the plant means “cough dispeller” and even today, herbal cigarettes often contain coltsfoot.
• In China, only the flowers, known as kuan dong hua, are used.
• Mat I Matcheha, mother and step mother, is Russia’s name for coltsfoot.
• Coltsfoot is said to “madden young stallions and fleeted mares”.
• Coltsfoot herb is a main ingredient in British herbal smoke mixtures, generally consisting of Buckbean, Eyebright, Rosemary, Thyme, Lavender, and Chamomile. 

Parts Used - Leaves, and sometimes the buds and flowers

Medicinal - Coltsfoot has been a cough-suppressing mainstay of Asian and European herbal medicine for 2,000 years. In addition to using the herb to treat cough, Chinese physicians have long prescribed it for asthma, colds, flu, bronchial congestion, and even lung cancer.

• India's traditional Ayurvedic doctors prescribed powdered coltsfoot in the form of snuff to treat cough, headache, and nasal congestion.
• For cough and asthma, the ancient Greek physician Dioscorides and the Romans Pliny and Galen recommended a coltsfoot treatment that today sounds ridiculous—smoking the herb.
• Coltsfoot may help treat respiratory problems in several ways. It contains a substance (mucilage) that may soothe the respiratory tract.
• A German study using experimental animals showed the herb increases the activity of the microscopic hairs in the breathing tubes that move mucus out of the respiratory tract.
• Another experiment shows that the herb suppresses a substance (platelet activating factor) in the body that is involved in triggering asthma attacks.

Preparations - Infusion, tea, syrup, capsules and extracts.

• The following is a Chinese prescription for relieving throat irritation, stubborn coughs and irritations of the lungs and air passages:
• K’uan-tung (coltsfoot leaves) 1 oz.
• Hu-lu-pa (fenugreek seeds) 1 oz.
• Chiang (crushed fresh ginger root) 1/4 oz.
• Put the ginger root and fenugreek seeds in 1 quart of cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, strain. Pour the boiling decoction into a container in which 1 oz. coltsfoot leaves are placed. Mix well, cover, allow to stand until cold. Strain, reheat, and add 1 tbsp. honey and a small amount of powdeered Kan-ts’ao (Chinese licorice root). Take 3 to 4 cups of the tea daily.
• The leaves bruised or steeped in hot water may be applied externally.
• Infusion: use 1-3 tsp. leaves or flowers with 1 cup water; steep for 30 minutes and strain. Sweeten with honey and take warm.
• Decoction: use 1 oz. of leaves in 1 quart of water, let boil down to 1 pint. Sweeten with honey and take 1 cup 3 or 4 times a day.
• Tincture: take 1-2 tsp. at a time. 

Precautions - Coltsfoot should not be used by pregnant women, as it may be an abortifacient, and the alkaloids seem to have a particularly harmful effect on the liver of the developing infant. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids present in the plant are potentially toxic in large doses, but have not proven toxic in the doses usually used to treat coughs. Still, it is recommended that coltsfoot tea or syrup not be used for more than 4-6 weeks at a time.

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