Butterbur

Butterbur. ( Petasites hybridum).
Most people will have seen this one I think.
The huge leaves were used for wrapping butter before we had fridges. They fold over without cracking and have insulating properties.

And the leaves are so large that they can be used as parasols against the sun. In fact the scientific name comes from the Greek petasol which means a broad brimmed felt hat.

Like Coltsfoot the flowers come through the ground before the leaves. Round here they appear in late February.

As for local names I have found an amazing 37 different ones. It would be tedious to list all of these so here are just a few:
Bog Rhubarb in Lincolnshire and Somerset
Burbleck in Westmorland
Butcher’s Rhubarb
Butterburn in Bucks, Cambs and East Anglia
Cluts in Northern England
Etc.etc.

Some blip friends shared by enthusiasm for the book Flora Britannica which I mentioned yesterday. I note that I bought it for Mrs. K. at Christmas 1996.
Later I was browsing in Amazon to see if it was still available. It is but it is rather expensive. But I came across an alternative called Vickery’s Folkflora, an A to Z of folklore and uses of British and Irish plants. It has 900 pages of fascinating information and can be downloaded as an ebook on Kindle for £4. A real bargain I think.