1. Hydrastis canadensis L. (goldenseal)
Pl. 516 a–c; Map
2364
Plants perennial
herbs, with thick, yellow, creeping, usually branched rhizomes. Basal leaf one,
often small and scalelike or withering early when subtending fertile stems,
well-developed when no fertile stem is produced, long-petiolate. Stems
15–35(–50) cm long, erect or ascending, moderately pubescent with short, fine,
spreading hairs. Stem leaves 2, alternate near the stem tip, relatively
short-petiolate. Leaf blades 2–6 cm long and 3–10 cm wide at flowering,
developing to 12–25 cm wide at fruiting, palmately moderately to deeply
(3–)5–9-lobed, broadly heart-shaped or kidney-shaped to nearly circular, the
base deeply cordate, the lobes variously oblong-elliptic to elliptic, ovate, or
somewhat rhombic, tapered to sharply pointed tips, the margins otherwise
sharply and irregularly jagged-toothed or -lobed, the upper surface glabrous or
nearly so, the undersurface finely hairy along the veins. Inflorescences of
solitary flowers at the stem tips, the stalk 5–35 mm long, produced as the
leaves develop. Flowers actinomorphic, perfect. Sepals 3, 3.5–7.0 mm long,
ovate to oval or elliptic, rounded or bluntly pointed at the tip, plane, green
to creamy white, shed before the stamens and pistils become functional. Petals
absent. Stamens showy, the anthers yellow. Staminodes absent. Pistils 5–15,
each with 2 ovules, the style rather short. Fruits dense, globose aggregates of
5–15 berries, the clusters 15–26 mm in diameter, the individual berries 5–8 mm
long, more or less globose to more commonly distended and/or somewhat flattened
by adjacent berries, juicy, the outer layer thin, red, smooth or finely
pebbled, not veiny, tipped with a peglike beak, this 1–2 mm long, straight, but
usually somewhat angled. Seeds 1 or 2 per berry, 2.5–4.5 mm long, ellipsoid,
the surface smooth, black, shiny. Receptacle not enlarged at fruiting. 2n=26.
April–May.
Scattered nearly
throughout the state, but uncommon in the Unglaciated Plains Division and the
western half of the Glaciated Plains (eastern U.S. west to Minnesota and
Arkansas; Canada). Bottomland forests, mesic upland forests, banks of streams
and rivers, and bases of bluffs.
Hydrastis
canadensis makes an
attractive, but relatively slow-growing, groundcover in shade gardens and is
available at many wildflower nurseries. Goldenseal preparations (made from the
rhizomes) are widely sold as herbal medicines, and the sale of wild-collected
goldenseal generates more money than any other North American herbal remedy
except ginseng. Goldenseal is becoming uncommon in many areas, probably due to
commercial overcollecting by root diggers (Concannon and DeMeo, 1997). In
recognition of conservation concerns about the species, international trade in
the underground parts of H. canadensis is regulated under Appendix II of
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES).