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Petasites palmatus

Palmate Coltsfoot

At a Glance: Many-stemmed perennial with umbrella-like leaves from creeping rhizomes.

Height: Up to 30 inches (80 cm).
Growth Form: Herb.
Stems: The flowering stems precede the leaves.
Leaves: All basal on long stalks; deeply divided heart or kidney shape, almost palmate, with 5-7 toothed lobes; green and hairless above, white-woolly below. Stem leaves reduced to alternate bracts.
Flowers: Ray flowers creamy white; disk flowers whitish to pinkish; involucres 7-16 mm high, the bracts lance-shaped, with hairs at the base; heads several to many, on glandular and often white-woolly stalks.
Flowering Period: February, March.
Fruits: Hairless achenes, 5-10 ribbed; pappus hairs numerous, white.


Photo © Heidi Bohan

Sun/Shade Tolerance	Hydrology	Elevation Range
full sun > 80% mostly sunny 60%-80% partial sun and shade 40%- 60% mostly shady 60%-80% full shade > 80%	FACW- wet moist dry Wetland Indicator Status: FACW (facultative wetland)	low elevation mid elevation sub-alpine high elevation

Soil Preferences
(data not available)

Habitat Preferences
Aquatic and Wetland: Ponds or lakes Shallow pools Sloughs Swales or wet ditches Seasonally inundated areas Marshes or swamps Aquatic bed wetlands Emergent wetlands Scrub-shrub wetlands Forested wetlands Bogs, fens Seeps, springs Shorelines and Riparian: Lake shores Bog margins Streams or rivers Stream or river banks Riparian corridors River bars Floodplains Bottomlands Alluvial areas	Saltwater Areas: In or near saltwater Mud flats Tidal areas Estuaries Saltmarshes Brackish water Seashores Coastal dunes or beaches Rocky or Gravelly Areas: Coastal bluffs Cliffs Rocky slopes Outcrops Crevices Glacial outwash Gullies Slide areas Sub-alpine and Alpine: Heaths Snow beds Tundra Avalanche tracks	Forests and Thickets: Forests and woods Open forests Coniferous forests Old growth forests Deciduous forests Mixed forests Nurse logs Forest edges, openings, or clearings Thickets Meadows and Fields: Pastures or fields Meadows or grassy areas Mossy areas Disturbed Areas: Roadsides Trailsides Logged sites Burned areas Disturbed sites

Wildlife Value

(data not available)

Ethnobotanical Uses and Other Facts

Material Uses: The Quinault used the leaves to cover berries in steam-pits.
Medicinal Uses: A decoction of roots were used to treat tuberculosis symptoms or as an emetic. Leaves were warmed and applied to areas afflicted with rheumatism.
Food Uses: Young leaves and stems were eaten, ashes from burned leaves was a salt substitute. The roots were eaten as a cough medicine, boiled or raw.
Name Info: "Palmate" implies veins spread like fingers on the leaves.

Suggested References

Alden, P., D. Paulson. 1998. National Audubon Society, Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest. Chanticleer Press. Page 137.
Cooke, S.S. A Field Guide to the Common Wetland Plants of Western Washington and Northwetern Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society and Washington Native Plant Society. Page 154.
Guard, B.J. 1995. Wetland Plants of Oregon & Washington. Lone Pine Publishing. Page 176.
Hickman, J.C., ed. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California. University of California Press. Page 541.
Hitchcock, C.L., A. Cronquist. 1973. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Page 324.
Lyons, C., W. Merilees. Trees and Shrubs to Know in Washington and British Columbia. Lone Pine Publishing. Page 198.
Pojar, J., A. Mackinnon. 1994. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Lone Pine Publishing. Page 294.

The landscaping and restoration information provided on this page is taken from Starflower Foundation Image Herbarium. All photographs © Starflower Foundation unless otherwise noted.