Goldenseal

Goldenseal is a low woodland perennial of the buttercup family, native to south-eastern Canada and the eastern United States, where it grows in moist, shady forest under deciduous trees. From a thick, knotted, bright yellow rootstock rises a single hairy stem a foot or so tall with two wrinkled leaves cut into five to seven lobes, and in spring one small flower with no petals, followed by a crimson fruit like a raspberry that is not edible. Its common name comes from the scars on the root, which look like the impressions of an old wax seal. The Iroquois and Cherokee used it in healing and as ceremonial face paint, and Indigenous peoples dyed cloth with its yellow juice; settlers learned its uses from them, and it reached England in 1760 under the name Warnera. Demand grew from the mid-nineteenth century, and overcollection and loss of forest have made it scarce: its roots are now listed under CITES, and Canada and most of the states where it grows count it threatened, vulnerable or uncommon. In hoodoo it is used for blessings and prosperity, and Cunningham uses it in money spells and healing rituals. Scientific evidence does not support its use for any health purpose.