Black Root
Parts Usually Used
Root
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Black root is a perennial plant; the slender, simple, straight, smooth, herbaceous stem grows 2-5 feet tall from a horizontal, woody rootstock. The lanceolate, finely serrate leaves grow in whorls of 4-7; and the tiny white (or purple) flowers are tubes, nearly sessile, and very numerous, grow in panicled spikes, calyx, four-parted corolla, small and nearly white; two projecting stamens on showy spikes.
The fruit is an oblong-ovate, flattened, many-seeded capsule.
Where Found
Native to the United States, grows in moist soil, moist woods, and swamps from New England to Minnesota and south to Kansas.
Medicinal Properties
Cathartic, cholagogue, emetic, hepatic, alterative, tonic, antiseptic
Biochemical Information
Lepthandrin in root
Legends, Myths and Stories
Lepthandrin is the extract made from the root.
Uses
Historically, herbalists prepared an infusion of the dried root for sluggish liver conditions and dyspepsia. Practitioners also employed the root as a cathartic for chronic constipation, as an emetic to stimulate vomiting, and as a diuretic. Additionally, traditional systems utilized the plant as a general tonic and blood purifier.
Warning
The fresh root is too toxic to use safely. Dried root should be used. Not recommended for use without medical supervision.
Bibliography
, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
copyright 1974. , 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.
, Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992