Petasites japonicus

Petasites japonicus, also known as butterbur, giant butterbur, great butterbur and sweet-coltsfoot, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to China, Japan, Korea and Sakhalin and introduced in Europe and North America. It was introduced to southern British Columbia in Canada by Japanese migrants.It is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate individuals. Occasionally, morphologically hermaphroditic (but functionally sterile) flowers exist.

💡 Japanese butterbur is a dioecious plant, which means each individual plant is either male or female. Interestingly, all the Japanese butterbur found in Finland are male, so they cannot reproduce sexually. Despite this limitation, they are quite capable of spreading through their rootstock. Once established, Japanese butterbur can dominate an area and suppress the growth of other plants.

Characteristics

Plant Type

Herb

Life Cycle

Perennial

Genus

Petasites

Family

Asteraceae

Hardiness Zone

5-9

Mature Height

61 cm to 91 cm

Mature Spread

0.91 m to 1.52 m

Leaf Color

Green, Yellow, White

Leaf Type

Deciduous

Flower Color

White

Flower Size

30.48 cm

Bloom Time

Early spring, Mid spring

Planting Time

Spring

Harvest Time

Late spring, Early summer

Tags (6)

Common Names (9)