butterbur

American  

[buht-er-bur] / ˈbʌt ərˌbɜr /

noun

1. any of several composite plants of the genus Petasites, having large, woolly leaves said to have been used to wrap butter.

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butterbur British  

/ ˈbʌtəˌbɜː /

noun

1. a plant of the Eurasian genus Petasites with fragrant whitish or purple flowers, woolly stems, and leaves formerly used to wrap butter: family Asteraceae (composites)

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Etymology

Origin of butterbur

First recorded in 1540–50; butter + bur ¹

Example Sentences

I tried an herbal remedy, a capsule that contained feverfew, butterbur and something else.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 18, 2021

The only blooms were a few early meadowsweet and a patch of pink butterbur.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

River and leat and back-water here ran clear among willow-clad islands, all fringed deep with meadow-sweet and comfrey and butterbur and melilot.

From At Large by Benson, Arthur Christopher

In Allan Water, near by where it falls into the Forth, we found a little sandy islet, overgrown with burdock, butterbur, and the like low plants, that would just cover us if we lay flat.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 10 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis

I see in the fields and meadows the bird's foot trefoil, the oxeye daisy, the lady smocks, sweet hemlock, butterbur, the stitchwort, and the orchis, the "long purpled" of Shakespeare.

From The Book of the Bush Containing Many Truthful Sketches Of The Early Colonial Life Of Squatters, Whalers, Convicts, Diggers, And Others Who Left Their Native Land And Never Returned by Macfarlane, J.