Wild Ginger

Asarum canadense, commonly known as Canada wild ginger, Canadian snakeroot, Indian ginger, coltsfoot and broad-leaved asarabacca, is a herbaceous perennial that forms dense colonies in the understory of deciduous forests across eastern North America. It spreads mainly by rhizomes. Its leaves are velvety and kidney-shaped. Native Americans used the long rhizomes as a seasoning and the plant as a medicine for conditions including dysentery, coughs and colds, sore throats and earaches, and also as a stimulant, appetite enhancer and charm. Tribes that used it include the Chippewa, Iroquois, Ojibwe, Meskwaki, Menomini, Potawatomi, Cherokee, Abnaki and Micmac. The oil of the rhizomes, called Canadian snakeroot oil, contains methyleugenol and linalool, and also aristolochic acid I, so it is not recommended for consumption.