Butterbur

I found this flower growing in the boggy ground by the stream and had to look it up. I learned a lot!

It is the native butterbur (Petasites hybridus). It's common name apparently comes from the fact it has enormous leaves which were used to wrap butter in the past. Flowering early in the year it's very popular with bees. It's common throughout the U.K. but rarer here in central Scotland & in Northern Scotland. 

The white version is considered an invasive species in Scotland. 
 Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI) say:
"White butterbur comes into leaf early, and forms a dense overlapping canopy of leaves through which light cannot penetrate. It forms pure patches many metres across and suppresses any native vegetation growth and reduces the variety of native wildlife on the site." They would like us to report sightings here
https://www.invasivespecies.scot/white-butterbur


The extra is some coltsfoot I spotted by the ponds. They aren't as showy  as the butterbur and I was surprised to find they are the same genus of flowering plants as the butterbur and they both belong to the sunflower family Asteraceae.