Also known as: Japanese coltsfoot, fuki, giant butterbur, creamy butterbur
At first glance, Japanese butterbur appears to be a tropical beauty and a fantastic groundcover for your back yard. But beauty can be deceiving! Its huge leaves shade out other plants and can lead to erosion.
Description:
| Life Cycle: | Perennial (life cycle lasts more than one year) |
| Early Detection and Rapid Response species: | Yes |
| Height: | Up to 6 feet tall (2 meters) |
| Leaf Description: | Kidney-shaped leaves are very large; each leaf can be up to 4 feet (1.3 meters) wide! Leaves are green on top and can be fuzzy on their underside. |
| Fruit & Flower Description: | White or cream-colored flower clumps emerge before the leaves. It needs both male and female plants to produce seeds, but the plant spreads mostly through underground rhizomesContinuously growing, horizontal underground stems.. |
| Bloom Time: | March to April |
Habitat:
- Japanese butterbur requires constant moisture and grows best in partially shaded areas including along meadows, fields, creeks, and streams.
Impact:
- Japanese butterbur’s large leaves can shade out other plants, leaving bare ground, which can lead to erosion.
- It primarily spreads by rhizomes which can spread out in all directions. This allows it to spread rapidly.
What you can do about it:
- Please report any Japanese butterbur infestation to the Oregon Invasive Species Hotline.
- Gardeners sometimes plant Japanese butterbur in containers to check its spread, but this plant is an escape artist! It’s been known to spread in spite of containment.
- Hand-pulling is an effective way to remove small areas, although you’ll have to continue pulling sprouts for at least a few years.
- Mowing will not remove the plant but can help keep it from spreading.
Look-alikes:
Japanese butterbur looks similar to its relative, common butterbur (Petasites frigidus), which can also be invasive. Common butterbur has pink to purple flowers and the leaves are a smaller, only growing to 1-2 feet across.
Noxious Weed Listing:
| State of Oregon: | Not listed |
| State of Washington: | Monitor |