Petasites japonicus (PROSEA)

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Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Petasites japonicus (Sieb. & Zucc.) Maxim.

Family: Compositae

Vernacular names

• Butterbur (En)
• Indonesia: daun fuki
• Japan: fuki
• China: feng tou tsai.

Distribution

Originally from Japan, China and Korea. Now occasionally cultivated as an ornamental worldwide, sometimes escaping to the wild. Also introduced in Indonesia from Japan.

Uses

Peeled petioles serve as a vegetable. Sometimes leaf-blades and young flower buds are also eaten.

Observations

• Perennial herb, up to 1 m tall
• Large, dentate, unlobed leaves, up to 1 m or more broad; petiole 20-80 cm long at harvest.
• Flowerhead creamy white with yellow-green involucre.

Butterbur can be cultivated in the tropics at higher altitudes in wet soils.

Selected sources

48, 57, 90, 97.