Siberian butterbur

Family Asteraceae. A widely distributed plant in Siberia and Central Europe. Along the banks of water bodies, grassy marshes, in shrub thickets, on waterlogged, saline, alpine and subalpine meadows.

Perennial plant 30-130 cm tall. Rhizome short; stems erect, grooved, at the base with fibrous remnants of withered leaves, green, sometimes reddish in the lower part, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with brownish or light jointed hairs. Rosette leaves cordate, ovate-cordate, less often triangular-cordate or kidney-shaped, 4-23 cm long and 7-15 cm wide, apex obtuse or shortly acuminate, margin crenately toothed, glabrous or sparsely pubescent beneath with brownish hairs, basal lobes usually obtuse, slightly spreading; petioles 1.5-3 times longer than the blade, at the base expanded into a more or less short sheath. Lower stem leaves similar to the basal ones but smaller, on shorter petioles, yet with longer sheaths. Upper stem leaves triangular or triangular-cordate, with small teeth along the margin, on short petioles expanded into an inflated sheath. Inflorescence oblong, simple, racemose of 5-50 heads; stems beneath the inflorescence and peduncles pubescent with short brown hairs, often mixed with fine white hairs; bracts ovate-lanceolate, lanceolate or linear, long-acuminate, 2.5-5 cm long. Heads together with ligulate florets 2.5-4.5 cm in diameter, nodding at fruiting. Involucre bell-shaped, 9-11 mm long and 7-12 mm wide, glabrous or slightly cobwebby-pubescent, often with a mixture of multicellular hairs, at the base with 2 lanceolate-linear or linear bracteoles, equal in length to the involucre or slightly shorter; outer bracts linear-lanceolate, inner ones lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, with a wide membranous margin. Ligulate florets yellow, 7-11 in number, 10-20 mm long and 3-5 mm wide. Corolla of tubular florets 7.5-8.5 mm long, with an expanded narrow campanulate portion 4.5-5.5 mm long. Pappus yellowish or brownish, about 6 mm long. Achenes yellowish-brown, 4-5 mm long. Flowers from July to early September. Propagated by seeds and root cuttings.