Tussilago farfara flower, one of the perfect options for cough

What is tussilago farfara flower(Coltsfoot, Kuan Dong Hua)?
Medicinally it refers to the dried flower buds of Tussilago farfara L., which is a plant in the family Compositae. So, other names of this crude medicine include Ass’s foot, Foal’s foot, Common Coltsfoot Flower, Tash Plant, Coughwort, Bull’s foot, Flos Farfarae, Butterbur, Winter heliotrope, Horse Foot, Flos Tussilaginis Farfare, Foalswort, etc. Pretty as it is, this golden yellow flower in full bloom is not the medicinal part. Instead it is the buds that don’t break through the ground yet. As a result, it needs to dig the flower buds before or after the winter solstice. After that, place it in ventilated place, screen out the dirt after it is semi-dry, remove the stalk, and then completely air dry. Because the one produced in Lingtai Gansu province is of best quality, it is also called "Lingtai Dong Hua". And it is used raw or fried with honey-fried. Nowadays it can be consumed in a variety of ways, such as tussilago farfara tea, flower extract, leaf extract, oil, and more.

Tussilago farfara plant is a perennial herb, normally 10 to 25cm in height. Basal leaves are in the shape of broad heart or ovate, 7 to 15cm long, 8 to 10cm wide, and with obtuse apex and serrate margins. Capitulum is acrogenous; phyllary is 1 to 2 layers and bracts are 20 to 30, thin, oval-shaped, and furry; ray florets grow in a circle, bright yellow and unisexual. Achenes are oblong, with vertical edges and yellow pappus. Flowering time is from February to March and fruit time is in April. Its habitats are river banks and the sand, cultivated or uncultivated.

Tussilago farfara benefits
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it covers both qi and blood aspects. And thanks to its nature of heatless warmness, moistening pungency, and unblocked sweetness, it is one of the perfect options for moistening lung, transforming phlegm, and suppressing coughing. Hence, it can be utilized in all the coughing related to lung disease no matter it is induced by interior and exterior, heat and cold, or deficiency and excess. And it makes more sense on treating cough caused by lung deficiency and lung cold accompanied with excessive phlegm.

In addition, it also does its job in the cases of consumptive cough and hemoptysis due to lung heat. This herb is often fried with honey in order to enhance the efficacy. In terms of compatibility of medicines, Zi Wan (Radix Asteris) is its best partner and they often appear together. This is simply because coltsfoot is good at relieving a cough and Radix Asteris focuses on making expectoration easy. In this way they are very complementary. What’s more, it is necessary to mention that there is a bizarre ancient coltsfoot use, in which the smoking of coltsfoot is a good therapy for chronic cough.