Goldenseal

Hydrastis canadensis

Goldenseal

Goldenseal is a member of the buttercup or Ranunculaceae family. It is native to rich, moist soils of the Ohio River Valley, West Virginia, the mountains of North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and north to New England and Upstate New York and parts of Quebec, Canada. It was harvested almost to extinction in the mid to late 1800’s in the Ohio River Valley where it was sold heavily in Cincinnati in amounts upwards of 200,000 pounds. Eclectic physicians learned about the plant from Native Americans who revered the plant for its medicinal, cultural, and practical uses. The deforestation of the North Eastern United states, along with demand and over harvesting, led to this plant’s status as endangered its natural range. The Eclectics used purified forms of the crude herb known in the commercial market as Hydrastine, Neutral Hydrastine, or Muriate of Hydrastin- preparations which were actually hydrochlorates of the alkaloid berberine. These preparations did not yield the same results as the concentrated whole plant extract and were soon abandoned.