The book "How to Know the Wildflowers" (1922) by Mrs. William Starr Dana calls the plant an immigrant from Europe that is now thoroughly wild in the U.S. The author had trouble identifying this at first, having seen the lobed, heart-shaped leaves growing in moist ditches and along the banks or beds of streams. Then, one early May she discovered the plant in bloom on the banks of a stream in Berkshire. She describes the flower as bright yellow and looking something like a dandelion "with its heart plucked out, topping a leafless, scaly-bracted scape." The plant is also supposed to be a remedy for coughs.

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