Plantain-leaf leopard's-bane

Doronicum plantagineum, the plantain-leaf leopard's-bane, is a rhizomatous perennial herb of the daisy family (Asteraceae) reaching up to about 80 cm in height. From a creeping rootstock arise basal leaves with long petioles and broadly ovate to elliptic, plantain-like blades up to 11 cm long, with shallowly toothed margins; cauline leaves are smaller, sessile, and clasp the stem. The stem terminates in one to several solitary, long-stalked flower heads up to 5 cm across, each comprising bright yellow ray florets surrounding a central disc of darker yellow tubular florets. Achenes are ribbed and bear a pappus of fine bristles aiding wind dispersal. The species is native to south-western and south-eastern Europe, ranging from Portugal and Spain through Italy and the Balkans to Greece, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic, and is naturalised in parts of Oregon. Like other leopard's-banes it contains pyrrolizidine-type compounds and is regarded as toxic.