Blue Cohosh
Parts Usually Used
Rootstock
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Blue cohosh is a hardy perennial plant 3 feet in height; the round, simple, erect stem grows from a knotty rootstock and bears a large, sessile, tri-pinnate leaf whose leaflets are oval, petioled, and irregularly lobed. Smooth-stemmed, stem and leaves covered with bluish film. The 6-petaled, yellow-green flowers are borne in a raceme or panicle. April to June before leaves expand.
The fruit is a pea-sized, dark blue berry on a fleshy stalk. Blooms in May or June and the berries ripen in August.
Where Found
Found in eastern North America, near running streams, around swamps, and in other moist places. South Carolina to Arkansas, North Dakota to Canada.
Medicinal Properties
Stimulant, sedative, sudorific (produces sweat), tonic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, parturient, emmenagogue (stimulates menstrual flow), anthelmintic (destroys intestinal worms), demulcent, diaphoretic, diuretic, oxytocic (stimulates uterine contractions).
Biochemical Information
Calcium, coulosaponin, gum, inositol, iron, leontin, magnesium, methylcystine, phosphoric acid, phosphorus, potassium, salts, silicon, starch, and vitamins B3, B5, B9, and E.
Legends, Myths and Stories
Cohosh is a name given the plant by the Algonquins. Roots are collected in the fall, when their chemical constituents are richest. The aborigines found in this herb their most valuable parturient; an infusion of the root taken as a tea, for a week or two preceding confinement, renders delivery rapid and comparatively painless. They also used the root as a remedy for rheumatism, dropsy, uterine inflammation, and colic.
These uses have been proven reliable by all methods of practice since.
Uses
Historically, herbalists utilized this bitter plant for a variety of complaints, including menstrual disorders, painful menstruation, cramps, and to stimulate menstrual flow. Traditional practitioners also employed it for conditions such as fever, edema, dropsy, rheumatism, gout, and colic, or administered it as a general blood tonic. In historical folk medicine, it was recorded as an application for ovarian neuralgia, vaginitis, leukorrhea, heart palpitations, hiccoughs, whooping cough, and spasms.
Warning
Blue cohosh should not be used during pregnancy until the last 2 to 3 weeks before confinement; it is a uterine stimulant. Blue cohosh should be taken for only one week at a time, one to three capsules daily. It can be very irritating to mucous surfaces and can cause dermatitis on contact. Children have been poisoned by the berries. Do no take blue cohosh if high blood pressure is present.
This herb raises blood pressure. Blue cohosh should be used with medical supervision.
Bibliography
, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. 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. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes.
, Copyright 1988, published 1992 American Folk Medicine , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1973 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, first printed by the United States Government Printing Office, Washington, in 1928, this Dover edition 1974 Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements , by James F.
D. and Phyllis A. , Garden City Park, NY Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary , 15th Edition, F. A. Davis Company, 1915 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 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. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974