Broad-leaved Butterbur

Family Asteraceae. A representative of Sakhalin tall-herb vegetation.

Perennial with a long, branching rhizome. In early spring, immediately after the snow melts, dense, rounded spike-like inflorescences of small, inconspicuous yellowish-whitish flower heads appear above the ground. Then in May robust (up to 60 cm in diameter) rounded leaves develop on long (70 - 150 cm) petioles, which die back with the first autumn frosts. Varieties of Broad-leaved Butterbur: "Variegatus" - large leaves bear irregular yellowish patches; "Purpureus" - with reddish leaves.