WILD FLOWERS yellow and orange 



with their Boneset, Catnip, Goldthread, and a various 

 assortment of garden herbs. Coltsfoot was con- 

 siderably used at one time as a family remedy for 

 coughs and colds, and many a steaming cupful has 

 been sipped by country people for this purpose. Its 

 Latin name, an old one used by Pliny, is derived from 

 lussis, a cough, and ago, alluding to the medicinal 

 use of the leaves. The ancients smoked the leaves of 

 Coltsfoot for relief in cases of asthma. Its fresh 

 juice has been used for affections of the skin, and in 

 Germany the dried leaves are said to be used as a 

 substitute for smoking tobacco. The flowers of the 

 Coltsfoot look something like those of an imperfectly 

 developed, or half-opened Dandelion, but where the 

 flower heads of the Dandelion are slightly tufted or 

 raised toward the centre, those of the Coltsfoot are 

 cupped or hollowed, more like an Aster, with a finely 

 fringed edge. The rather large, solitary flower is 

 borne on a thick, hollow, light green stem, rising 

 direct from the long, slender, creeping perennial root 

 from four to eighteen inches in height. It is usually 

 stained with red and is covered with numerous scale- 

 like and alternating leaflets. The light yellow flower 

 head is of a lighter shade than that of the Dandelion, 

 and is set in a deep, leafy, thimble-shaped green cup. 

 It is composed of many ray and disc florets — an 

 arrangement fully explained in the description of the 

 Asters. The ray florets are fringe-like, and the small 

 disc florets are five-parted. They have an agreeable 

 odour, and as they fade, they turn to red-brown. 



191 



