After many months (five-plus where I live) of winter whiteness, it’s a relief to watch the snow melt at last. We’re always grateful, even though the loss of snow cover gives way to a …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
After many months (five-plus where I live) of winter whiteness, it’s a relief to watch the snow melt at last.
We’re always grateful, even though the loss of snow cover gives way to a mostly brown world: brown grass, sand everywhere – even brown pine needles along the roads. Not to mention the leaves, trash, or dog poop that was mercifully hidden under the snow. Those few sepia-toned weeks after the white stuff disappears and before trees and grass wake up can be visually bleak.
There was a period of time in Europe when the coltsfoot flower was the symbol for an apothecary, or early pharmacy – the blossom was virtually synonymous with healing. And today, following a tradition that dates back thousands of years, some Chinese people still use commercial cough syrup made with coltsfoot.
It’s common to assume that plant-based remedies are benign. The truth is that herbal medicine is nothing to sneeze at. Think about digoxin, nicotine, caffeine and THC, to name but a few naturally-occurring but potent chemicals. Because herbal medicine can possibly interfere with prescription drugs or exacerbate health conditions, please consult your doctor before using herbal remedies. (In other words, please don’t sue me.)
Speaking of legal liability, there has been concern in recent times about the safety of ingesting coltsfoot. Researchers have documented an increase in liver cancer among rats ingesting coltsfoot. To be fair to coltsfoot (if not the lab animals), these rats were fed a diet of up to 16% coltsfoot flowers, every day for 600 days. The takeaway message: Don’t eat this much coltsfoot, folks. Problem solved.
However, the same study concluded that the cancer risk was due to a single compound called senkirkine that it (the plant, not the study) produced, Last I heard, German researchers were working to develop a coltsfoot strain that’s largely free of that chemical.
Making cough syrup from coltsfoot is best done under the supervision of an herbalist. On the other hand, using it as a tonic for the spirit need not involve medical professionals. I encourage everyone to watch for these splashy yellow flowers in the early spring.
Paul Hetzler is a former Cornell Cooperative Extension educator. He never swats bugs weighing more than he does