Not the plant you're looking for? Search over 300,000 plants

Herbaceous Perennial

Petasites hybridus

butterbur

A perennial native with dense, cylindrical clusters of pinkish flowers on sturdy, upright stems, appearing in early spring before the foliage. Can form large colonies, spreading via fleshy rhizomes, with heart-shaped leaves up to 1m across felted white on the undersides

Other common names

batter dock
bog rhubarb
see morebutter dock
cleats
cleets
flea dock
gallon
oxwort
pestilence wort
poison rhubarb
son-before-the-father
umbrella leaf
water docken
alan mawr

Synonyms

Petasites officinalis
Petasites vulgaris
see moreTussilago hybrida

Save to My plants

Ultimate height

1–1.5 metres

Time to ultimate height

5–10 years

Ultimate spread

2.5–4 metres

Clay

Loam

Moisture

Moist but well–drained, Poorly–drained

pH

Acid, Alkaline, Neutral

	Stem	Flower	Foliage	Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Full shade
Full sun
Partial shade

Aspect

East–facing or North–facing or South–facing or West–facing

Exposure

Exposed or Sheltered

Hardiness
Hardiness ratings
All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets
H1a: under glass all year (>15C)
H1b: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
H1c: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

Botanical details

Family: Asteraceae
Native to GB / Ireland: Yes
Foliage: Deciduous
Habit: Bushy, Matforming
Genus: Petasites are perennial plants, usually large, with thick rhizomes or stems. Leaves are often very large and either heart-shaped or kidney-shaded. Scapes or stems many-headed, with any leaves usually reduced to scales. Flowers dioecious in usually rayless heads, purple or white, rarely yellowish, borne in panicles or racemes at the ends of the scapes
Name status: Correct

How to grow

Cultivation

Prefers wet soil and partial shade, occuring naturally in damp fields and woods, or along streamsides and ditches. Develops from a strong network of rhizomes, and can be useful to stabilise sloping ground, but may swamp other plants and need to be controlled in gardens. See butterbur and winter heliotrope for more information

Propagation

Divide in spring

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Wildlife gardens
Banks and slopes

Pruning

No pruning needed but can remove old foliage once it dies down

Pests

Generally pest-free

Diseases

Generally disease-free

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.