Honey bees
Nectar value
Medium
Pollen value
Medium
Pollinator plant
Coltsfoot
Tussilago farfara
Linked agroforestry plant data
Pollinator recipe
Bee value
Who this plant supports
Agroforestry database
Complete plant information
Structure
- Vegetation layer
- Herbaceous, Ground cover
- Size
- Small
- Dimensions
- 0.20 m high × 1.00 m wide
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Lifecycle
- Perennial
Site conditions
- USDA hardiness
- 4-8
- Moisture
- Moist
- Soil
- Sandy, Loamy, Clay
- pH
- Acid, Neutral, Alkaline
- Light
- Sun, Partial shade
Uses
- Edible parts
- Flowers, Leaves
- Edibility
- 3 out of 5
- Medicinal value
- 3 out of 5
The buds and young flowers of this plant can be eaten both raw and cooked, and have a pleasant anise flavor that is delicious in salads. The young leaves can also be eaten raw or cooked and are suitable for salads, soups, or cooked as a vegetable. Note that the leaves have a bitter taste until they are rinsed after cooking. Fresh or dried leaves and flowers can be used to make aromatic tea with a licorice-like taste. The dried and burnt leaves can serve as a salt substitute. Additionally, the slender stem can be candied in sugar syrup.