Common Name: butterburdock Scientific Name: Petasites hybridus (L.) Gaertn., Mey. & Scherb.Family Name: Asteraceae (Compositae) - Aster or Sunflower FamilyIdentification NotesLife Cycleintroduced perennial, reproducing by seed, tuberous base and fleshy creeping roots Stemsreproductive stems, upright, leaf scales Leavesarising from swollen base, roundish and somewhat heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, very large, petioles long and hollow with ridges, margins irregularly toothed, smooth above, wooly below Flowersheads of pink-purple disk (tabulate) florets arranged in dense spike on thick stalk, dioecious with male and female on separate plants, appear before foliage emergences