Petasites hybridus

RHS Plant Profile
butterbur

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Other common names

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

Synonyms

Petasites officinalis, Petasites vulgaris, Tussilago hybrida

RHS Recommended

Herbaceous Perennial

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

Position

Full shade, Full sun, Partial shade

Soil Types

Clay, Loam

Max Height

1-1.5 metres

Max Spread

2.5-4 metres

Size

Time to Maturity
5–10 years
Max Spread
2.5-4 metres
Max Height
1-1.5 metres

Growing Conditions

Clay Loam
Moisture
Moist but well–drained or Poorly–drained
pH
Acid or Alkaline or Neutral

Position

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)
H5

RHS Recommended: for People & Planet

RHS Recommended Plants for People & Planet

For Water Resilience

Plants for Flood Resilience

Plants that can help manage heavy rain by catching rainfall, slowing surface run-off, encouraging water into the soil or taking it up through their roots, contributing to flood resilient gardens.

Plants for both Wet and Dry Conditions

Plants that cope with changing soil moisture, including wet winters and extended summer dry. Once established, they grow as wet and dry conditions alternate.

For Temperature Resilience

Plants for Temperature Cooling

Plants that cool air temperature by providing shade, transpiration, or reflection to reduce heat impact on people, animals, soil or other ground surface.

Plants for Wind Shelter

Plants with dense canopies often grown as a tall thick hedge or grouping can block wind and shelter gardens, buildings and people.

For Carbon Storage

Plants for Carbon Storage

Plants that can take up carbon (CO₂) through photosynthesis and store it within the plant or deposit it by their roots into the soil.

For Biodiversity

Plants for Pollinators

Plants that have flowering properties (pollen and/or nectar) that are particularly beneficial for pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and hoverflies.

Growing conditions for maximum benefit

This plant will provide the maximum benefits if it is healthy and allowed to grow to maturity

For the Environment

  • For Flood Resilience

Colour & Scent

Season Stem Flower Foliage Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

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