Black cohosh botanical plate

Herb. No. 085 · Ranunculaceae

RangeFig. atlas
Approximate native range — a teaching atlas, not a survey

Eastern North American rich woods. Buy cultivated rhizome.

Native · North America

Native Also grown
LegalCautionplant

Black cohosh

Actaea racemosa

Medicinal herbsHarvest

A woodland candle whose rhizome is a menopause herb with a real liver signal on extracts.

Black cohosh is an eastern North American woodland plant. Traditional Native and Eclectic use includes women’s complaints and rheumatic aches. Standardized extracts are widely sold for menopause. Rare liver injury is documented. Wild-dug rhizome is a conservation problem — cultivated only.

Flavor

Bitter, earthy, slightly acrid. Not a tea you drink for pleasure.

Parts used

Rhizome

Helpful

  • A well-known, well-studied North American root

Cautions

  • Liver reports with extracts
  • Wild harvest depletes woods
  • Not for pregnancy

Field assistant

Ask about traditional use, safety, or the law. The assistant will not teach illegal cultivation or give medical orders.

Harvest this plant

When to cut, how to dry, and how to store it — garden and kitchen crops only.

Open harvest notes