Skye Flora

Butterbur


Petasites hybridus

 

Petasites hybridus

Photo © Carl Farmer
24 Feb 2003 Scorrybreac
Flower-spike 8 cm high, 4 cm across

Quite frequent in wet lowland places

Flowering shoots up to c 40 cm tall, lengthening to as much as 90 cm in fruit.  Leaves up to 100 cm across.

Skye ID: Unmistakable in flower or fruit.  Young leaves like Coltsfoot but much more coarsely toothed and not white-felted beneath.  Adult leaves huge, arising singly, forming patches that cover large areas of ground.  These could only be confused with rhubarb which persists in formerly cultivated places in Skye, but rhubarb has several leaves arising from a single crown.

Other features: All Skye plants are likely to be of the "male" form which has up to 5 female florets and about 30 sterile ones in each flowerhead.  Any of the "female" form, with about 100 female florets and up to 3 sterile ones, would be of great interest.

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Petasites hybridus

Photo © Carl Farmer
24 Feb 2003 Scorrybreac

  Petasites hybridus

Photo © Carl Farmer
24 Feb 2003 Scorrybreac
 

  Young leaves
     
     
Petasites hybridus

Photo © Carl Farmer
4 May 2002 Broadford
 

Mature leaves


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