Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Petasites hybridus (syn. Petasites officinalis, P. vulgaris; formerly Tussilago petasites)
Pronounced Butterbur (BUT-er-bur); Petasites hybridus (pet-uh-SY-teez HY-brid-us).
A warm, drying, acrid relaxant that unclenches spasm and constriction and quiets the over-reactive, inflamed, wind-driven tissue, from the throbbing vascular tension of a migraine to the histamine storm of the allergic airway.
Avoid. Butterbur contains hepatotoxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can cross the placenta and cause hepatic veno-occlusive disease; PA-containing butterbur is contraindicated in pregnancy, and the safety of even PA-free standardized extract during pregnancy has not been established. Its traditional emmenagogue and diaphoretic reputation adds a further theoretical concern. (NCCIH, Butterbur: Usefulness and Safety; AHPA cautionary statement for PA-containing botanicals; Brinker, Herbal Contraindications and Drug Interactions.)
Avoid. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are excreted in breast milk and are hepatotoxic to the nursing infant, and the safety of PA-free extract during lactation is unknown. (NCCIH; Brinker, Herbal Contraindications and Drug Interactions.)
Only certified PA-free, standardized extracts, and only short-term under professional supervision. PA-free preparations (for example Ze339 for allergic rhinitis and Petadolex for migraine) have been studied in children and adolescents for up to about 16 weeks with apparent tolerability, but PA-containing preparations must never be given to children. (NCCIH, Butterbur and Seasonal Allergies digest.)
Whole-plant and unprocessed butterbur contains hepatotoxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). Take internally only as a standardized, certified PA-free extract, and only short-term. Even products labeled PA-free have rare associated reports of liver injury, so monitor for signs of hepatotoxicity (jaundice, dark urine, right-upper-quadrant pain, nausea, fatigue) and avoid concurrent hepatotoxic drugs, herbs, and alcohol. As an Asteraceae-family plant, it may cross-react in those allergic to ragweed, marigold, daisy, or chrysanthemum. (NCCIH; NIH LiverTox; AHPA.)
Pregnancy and lactation. Pre-existing liver disease or a concurrent hepatotoxic drug, herb, or alcohol load. Known Asteraceae (ragweed/daisy) allergy. Non-certified, PA-containing preparations must never be taken internally at all; only certified PA-free standardized extract is acceptable for internal use.
Low conservation concern. Petasites hybridus is a vigorous, colony-forming, locally abundant and often naturalized wetland plant (invasive in parts of North America), not on the United Plant Savers At-Risk or To-Watch lists. The real stewardship issue is the reverse of scarcity: because the raw plant carries variable, hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, source only cultivated, batch-tested, certified PA-free standardized extract from a reputable manufacturer rather than wildcrafting your own.
Not in the canonical biblical texts; a European (British and Central European) folk herb of the wet meadow and streamside. The genus name Petasites derives from the Greek petasos, the broad-brimmed shepherd's felt hat, for the plant's very large leaves, and the herb is the petasites described by Dioscorides in De Materia Medica. Culpeper (The English Physician, 1652) called it the plague-flower and recommended the powdered root in wine against pestilential fevers and the plague, by provoking sweat and expelling poison.
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