Goldenseal
(Hydrastis canadensis L.)

botanical information

Hydrastis canadensis L., member of the Ranunculaceae family, is native to North America with a natural range extending from southern Quebec to northern Georgia, and west to Missouri.  Goldenseal is an herbaceous perennial and can be found in rich, densely shaded, deciduous forests.  The plant emerges in early spring from buds that overwinter on the perennial rootstock, growing each year to a height of eight to fourteen inches.  The leaf is cordate-shaped with a long petiole and can have three to seven lobes.  The margins of the leaves are double serrated.  Leaves can span three to twelve inches in diameter and three to eight inches long. The single greenish-white flower blooms briefly from late April to May, depending upon location.  A berry forms, turning red in July, and contains up to thirty black seeds.  The tumeric-colored rhizome and fibrous roots are harvested after the fifth growing season (or later), when the plant is started from seed. 

medicinal uses

The medicinal properties of goldenseal include the alkaloids hydrastine and berberine.  Berberine has been shown to inhibit the growth of a number of parasites as well as killing tumors.  Native Americans use goldenseal in various ways, including a general antiseptic and a treatment for snakebites.  Modern medicinal uses for goldenseal include the treatment of nasal congestion, digestive disorders, eye and ear infections, and AIDS.

selecting a planting site

The western portion of North Carolina is considered goldenseal’s prime natural range.  It grows best in a rich, moist, loamy soil with good air and water drainage and approximately 70-75% shade.  Avoid planting in a poorly drained soil.  Choose a site with a slight slope to help improve drainage.  If an open field is used for production, shade structures will need to be erected.  Typically, a wood lath structure or polypropylene shade structure is used.  For forest culture, select a site with good air and water drainage in an area shaded by tall, hardwood trees like basswood, hickory, tulip poplar, or white oak.  Look for an area where understory woodland plants grow such as black cohosh, bloodroot, ginseng, mayapple, or trillium.  If goldenseal is not grown in ideal forest soils, raised beds are recommended, especially for moist or clay soils.  Make sure sufficient compost or other organic material is added to the planting beds.  Soils with a pH range of 5.5-6.5 are ideal for growing goldenseal.  Areas where problems have occurred due to soil-borne diseases should be avoided. 

planting

Goldenseal can be propagated from rhizome pieces, root cuttings, or from seed.  To propagate from seed, the berry must be harvested as soon as it is mature, then processed by carefully mashing the fruit to separate out the seeds.  This process can take several days, as the seeds and pulp need to ferment in water until they can easily be separated.  The process includes rinsing several times each day, until the seeds are clean.  The seeds must never dry out.  When cleaned and rinsed thoroughly, sow the seeds one-quarter to one-half inch deep in a shaded nursery bed, and space the seeds one to two inches apart.  Cover with a light leaf mulch to prevent the soil from drying out.  Richo Cech, author of Growing At-Risk Medicinal Plants, recommends waiting to transplant the seedlings until they are two years old and have formed a rhizome. 

 The preferred method for propagating goldenseal is from rhizome pieces.  Cut rhizomes into one-half inch or larger pieces, keeping the fibrous roots attached, and making sure there is least one bud present per piece.  In a well-prepared bed, plant the rhizome pieces in the ground, right below the soil surface, with the bud pointed upright.  Space rhizome pieces six inches apart with rows six to twelve inches apart.  Add a thick layer of mulch, using hardwood leaves or shredded hardwood bark.  The mulch should be raked back to a depth of one to two inches before the plants emerge in the spring.  Tim Blakley, author of Medicinal Herbs in the Garden, Field, and Marketplace, writes on another method of propagation, “Buds and plants will form on the fibrous roots that grow away from the main root.  These pieces can be planted separately.”  Use the same planting directions as above.  Keep all beds free from weeds.

insects and diseases

Under natural conditions in the forest, goldenseal has minimal problems with diseases or insects.  According to Davis, slugs are a problem in small plots in the Southeast.  They can eat the entire crown of the plant as well as the fruit.  If the populations of slugs are intolerable and control measures do not work, it may be necessary to remove the mulch from around the plants.  Moles and voles have also been known to damage goldenseal beds.  Davis adds that root knot nematodes will severely reduce growth and root yield of goldenseal.

The book, Index of Plant Diseases in the United States, lists the following diseases that have been known to affect Hydrastis canadensis: leaf blights, Alternaria sp. and Botrytis sp.; Fusarium wilt; root knot nematodes, Meloidogyne spp.; root rots, Phymatotrichum omnivorum and Rhizoctonia solani; and an unidentified mosaic virus.

harvesting, cleaning, and drying

Roots are harvested in the fall after the tops have died down.  Harvesting usually begins five to seven years from seeding or three to five years from rhizome transplants.  Davis recommends the following harvest, cleaning, and drying techniques, “Dig roots carefully, keeping the fibrous roots intact.  Small plots can be dug with a fork, but a larger field requires a mechanical digger like a modified potato, horseradish, or bulb digger.  Select large, healthy plants for replanting (in a new area) and have a container available to keep them moist and cool.  Carefully wash the remaining roots by spraying with a hose over a large-mesh screen.  Remove all dirt, breaking larger roots if necessary, but do not use a brush.  Commercial ginseng root washers are available that consist of a drum that turns and tumbles the roots as water is sprayed over them.” 

 Davis continues, “Spread the washed roots on screens, and dry in a well-ventilated area in the shade or in a forced air drier.  Simple driers can be constructed from small sheds or rooms in barns.  Bulk tobacco barns can also be modified for drying goldenseal roots.  Keep temperatures low, around 95-100⁰F, (to allow for even and thorough drying) and provide good airflow around the roots.  Roots will lose about 70% of their weight during drying.  To test for dryness, break a large root.  It should snap but not be brittle.  Pack dried roots loosely into cardboard cartons or barrels, in clean untreated burlap sacks, or in poly-sacks.  Store in a cool, dry, dark area free from insects and rodents.”  Yields per acre can vary.  Davis reports yields for goldenseal, grown under artificial shade structures, range from 800 to 3000 pounds of dried root per acre.

markets  

Goldenseal has established a long track record for medicinal use in North America. Within the last ten years, interest in the European market has been steadily increasing as this botanical is used in combination with other herbs such as Echinacea and black cohosh.  In 2001, approximately 265,000 pounds of goldenseal were sold on world markets.  Demand exceeded supply for high-quality cultivated material.  Cultivated material represented about 25% of the overall supply in 2001.

 Restrictions on wild harvesting and the desire for higher concentrations of bioactives continue to drive demand for a high-quality cultivated material.  Small-scale collectors, mostly in the southern regions of the Appalachian range and Missouri, supply most of the wild harvested product.  Cultivated sources are located mainly on small acreage plots in Canada, Wisconsin, and the Pacific Northwest.  Many growers of goldenseal are members of co-ops or are vertically integrated into large processors.  Prices range from $35-$45.00 per pound for high-quality, cultivated, dried root. 

Cech, Richo. 2002. Growing At-Risk Medicinal Herbs. Horizon Herbs. Williams, Oregon. 314 pp.

 Fernald, M. L. 1970. Gray’s Manual of Botany. D. Van Nostrand Company, New York, NY. 1632 pp.

 Davis, Jeanine M., and Joe-Ann McCoy. 2000. Commercial goldenseal cultivation. Horticultural Information Leaflet 131. North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC. Click here for the Web site.

 Greenfield, Jackie, and Jeanine M. Davis. 2004. Medicinal herb production guides. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

 Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pp.

 Strategic Reports. 2002. Analysis of the economic viability of cultivating selected botanicals in North Carolina. A report commissioned for the North Carolina Consortium on Natural Medicinal Products by North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. 244 pp.

 Sturdivant, Lee, and Tim Blakley. 1999. Medicinal Herbs in the Garden, Field, and Marketplace. San Juan Naturals. Friday Harbor, Washington. 323 pp.

regulations

growing: Because of goldenseal’s endangered status in North Carolina, permits from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Plant Protection Division, Plant Conservation Program, are required to cultivate or propagate goldenseal within the state.  Permit applications can be obtained by contacting the NCDA&CS, Plant Industry Division, Plant Conservation Program, P.O. Box 27647, Raleigh, NC 27611, telephone number, 919-733-3610. 

selling: A CITES permit or certificate must be obtained before exporting cultivated or wild-collected goldenseal roots.  Proof that roots, rhizomes, or seeds came from legally acquired parental stock will be required, as well as verification that plants were cultivated for at least four years.  For permit applications and more information, contact the Office of Management Authority, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 700, Arlington, VA 22203.   Telephone number is 1-800-358-2104. Click here for the Web site.   

The North Carolina Arboretum is grateful to Jackie Greenfield and Jeanine M. Davis for their contributions to this publication, including excerpts from their publication “Medicinal Herb Production Guides”. The Arboretum also wishes to thank Richard Rice for his artistic renditions of the herbs. The Superb Herbs Web site and the documents provided were made possible by a grant from the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, found on the Web at www.ncagr.com.