What does coltsfoot mean?
Coltsfoot is a low-growing perennial plant of the daisy family, native to Europe and parts of Asia and naturalized widely in North America, where it grows on damp waste ground, banks, and roadsides. Its most striking feature is the timing of its growth: in early spring, bright yellow, dandelion-like flowers rise on scaly stalks before any leaves have appeared; the broad, rounded leaves that follow were thought to resemble a colt's hoofprint, giving the plant its common name. For centuries coltsfoot was prized in European folk medicine as a treatment for coughs and chest complaints — so much so that its scientific name, Tussilago, derives from the Latin word for cough. It was smoked or brewed into teas and syrups, though modern herbalists warn against consuming it because it contains liver-toxic compounds. Today the word survives mostly in botany, gardening, and writing about wildflowers and traditional remedies.
nounA Eurasian plant (Tussilago farfara) of the daisy family, bearing small yellow dandelion-like flowers that appear in early spring before its large, hoof-shaped leaves; it has a long history of medicinal use as a cough remedy.
- The perennial plant Tussilago farfara of the daisy family, with yellow spring flowers that appear before its rounded, hoof-shaped leaves.
- The dried leaves or flowers of this plant, formerly used in herbal medicine, especially as an ingredient of cough remedies.
"The bare banks of the stream were already bright with coltsfoot when we walked out in March."
"Clumps of coltsfoot had pushed up through the wet clay along the lane."
"Old herbals recommended coltsfoot tea as a remedy for winter coughs."
Plant names are frequently left uninflected in the plural, especially in botanical contexts, but the regular plural 'coltsfoots' is also acceptable.
"The south-facing slope was dotted with coltsfoot in full bloom."
The yellow flowers of coltsfoot open before the leaves exist at all, and botanists named the plant 'Tussilago' — literally 'cough-chaser' — for its centuries-old use against coughs.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of coltsfoot
The English word 'coltsfoot' is a straightforward compound of 'colt' (a young horse) and 'foot', first recorded in Middle English and applied because the plant's broad, rounded leaf was thought to look like a colt's hoofprint. The plant's scientific genus name, Tussilago, comes from Latin tussis ('cough') plus agere ('to drive away'), reflecting its ancient reputation as a cough remedy — the same Latin root lies behind the medical term 'tussive'. The 'foot' element of the name connects it to the Germanic root behind 'foot' and, more distantly, to the Latin ped- and Greek pod- roots seen in words like 'pedal' and 'podium'.
How coltsfoot is actually used
Coltsfoot is chiefly a botanical and folk-medicine term; it appears most often in nature writing, gardening, and historical accounts of herbal remedies rather than everyday conversation. The name refers to the fancied resemblance of the mature leaf to a colt's hoofprint. Note that modern herbalists caution against internal use of coltsfoot because it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids harmful to the liver.
Easily confused with coltsfoot
Dandelion is a common lawn weed whose leaves resemble young coltsfoot leaves, but dandelion has hollow milky stems and its flowers appear with the leaves, whereas coltsfoot flowers on scaly stems before any leaves emerge.
Butterbur (Petasites) is a related plant with similarly large leaves and pre-emergent flowers, but its flower spikes are usually pinkish-purple rather than bright yellow.