Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)
Goldenseal is a perennial herb in the buttercup family.(4) It grows to a height of 6-12 inches with a spread of 6-12 inches.(6) The stem is purplish and hairy above ground and yellow below ground where it connects to the yellow rhizome.(4) The plant bears 2 rounded, hairy leaves with 5-7 double-toothed lobes and single, small, inconspicuous flowers with greenish white stamens in the late spring.(6) The fruit consists of a soft red berry, somewhat like a raspberry with 10-30 black seeds.(6) The fruit ripens in midsummer.(6)
The rhizome is about 2 inches long and has many long, skinny fibrous rootlets.(6) Farmers or wild-crafters harvest the rhizome in the fall after the 3rd year if grown from division, and after the 6th year if grown from seed.(6)
Goldenseal grows in the forests of the eastern United States and Canada. Once it was plentiful in the wild, but because of over-harvesting, it is rare today.(3,7) Farmers use artificial shading materials to cultivate goldenseal.(6)