Adam and Eve Root

Adam and Eve root is the underground tuber of Aplectrum hyemale, an orchid native to Canada and the eastern United States, and the only species in its genus, whose name is Greek for 'spurless'. It ranges from Oklahoma to the Carolinas and north into Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec and Massachusetts, and is commonest in the Appalachians, around the Great Lakes and along the Ohio and upper Mississippi valleys. The tubers creep underground and build large colonies. Each plant puts up one leaf, striped silvery white and green, which shows in late November and lasts until March; in late spring a purplish-green stalk carries a few tiny flowers, pale green or yellow and purplish at the tips. The roots come linked in pairs, sometimes in threes. Crushed, the tubers give a sticky fluid that Native Americans used to mend pottery, the source of its other name, putty root. Kynes treats it under Orchid, beside the early purple orchid, and the lore she gives is of orchid roots generally: medieval European witches were said to put the larger root into love potions and the smaller into remedies for heartbreak. In magic the root is carried as an amulet to draw love or help fertility, split between two partners to strengthen their commitment, or held in the hands for a few minutes each day to build psychic ability.