Petasites

The flowers of Petasites rise out of the bare earth with barely a leaf around them. Those innocuous little leaves will be three feet across and rise six feet by the end of the summer. Now, they are subdued and those fleshy, prehistoric-looking flowers are dominant. I planted this as Petasites japonica, but I think it is likely to be P. hybridus. In either case the leaves and roots have been used as food and medicine for centuries. Careful, the plant is poisonous without the proper preparation to diminish the toxins.