Caulophyllum thalictroides

Caulophyllum thalictroides
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In bloom
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Berberidaceae
Tribe:	Leonticeae
Genus:	Caulophyllum
Species:	C. thalictroides
Binomial name
Caulophyllum thalictroides (L.) Michaux

Caulophyllum thalictroides, blue cohosh a species of Caulophyllum (family Berberidaceae), also called squaw root or papoose root, is a flowering plant in the Berberidaceae (barberry) family. It is a medium-tall perennial with blue berry-like fruits and bluish-green foliage.

Uses

It has been used as a medicinal herb by American Indians. Many Native American tribes, and later European herbologists and mid-wives, would use this herb in conjunction with other herbs and fluids for abortive and contraceptive purposes.

Characteristics

From the single stalk rising from the ground, there is a single, large, three-branched leaf plus a fruiting stalk. The bluish-green leaflets are tulip-shaped, entire at the base, but serrate at the tip. Its species name, thalictroides, comes from the similarity between the large highly divided, multiple-compound leaves of Meadow-rue (Thalictrum) and those of Blue Cohosh.

It is found in hardwood forest of the eastern United States, and favors moist coves and hillsides, generally in shady locations, in rich soil. It grows in eastern North America, from Manitoba and Oklahoma east to the Atlantic Ocean.

Gallery

• Caulophyllum thalictroides 002.JPG

  In bloom

• Blue Cohosh.jpg

  Foliage of plant in a Michigan deciduous forest

See also

• Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa), although similarly named, is actually a plant in a separate genus.

External links

• Data related to Caulophyllum thalictroides at Wikispecies
• USDA Plants Profile for Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh)
• eFloras.org: Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
• 红毛七 (Caulophyllum thalictroides)