The anti-infective herb-of-choice when I started studying herbal medicine in the mid-1960s was goldenseal, Hydrastis canadensis. I never liked it. Too bitter. Made me want to spit. Made me nauseous. Upset my tummy.
 
I was taught by white herbalists that we were using goldenseal as an anti-infective, because native people did. But when I asked my native grannies about it, I was told goldenseal was used primarily as a dye: yellow puccoon and yellow paint root being common names. Odd. Curious.

Perhaps because the yellow color is water-solvable, but: "Berberine and hydrastine [the anti-infective constituents] are poorly soluble in water and freely soluble in alcohol." AmerIndians didn't have or use alcohol before white contact.

Was there any other use native use for goldenseal? I made a bit of a nuisance of myself by asking anyone, everyone, when I was at a gathering or on a reservation. One sunny afternoon, an indigenous granny looked me in the eye and volunteered to satisfy my curiosity. "But you won't like what I have you tell you," she warned.

"I'm sure you are aware that native nations fought and raided each other. (Except for The Great Peaceful Nations, into which I was adopted by a grandmother Twylah Nitsch.) And you probably know that prisoners were tortured. When we got a woman to torture, we used goldenseal. We would bind her, deprive her of food and water for several days, then force her to eat goldenseal. It would kill her by impacting liver function. It would kill her by impairing kidney function. It would kill her by destroying intestinal integrity."

Goldenseal is a low-growing North American perennial ephemeral. Perennial = comes back every year from the same root. Ephemeral = flowering early in the spring, before the trees leaf out. Perennial roots are often rich in medicinal alkaloids, important poisonous compounds which taste bitter, impact liver and kidney function, and initiate strong responses. Goldenseal is a superb example.

From Wikipedia: "Goldenseal contains the isoquinoline alkaloids hydrastine, berberine, berberastine, hydrastinine, tetrahydroberberastine, canadine, and canalidine. The Unites States Pharmacopoeia requires goldenseal supplements to have hydrastine concentrations of at least 2% and berberine concentrations of at least 2.5%; while the European requirements are that hydrastine concentrations be at least 2.5% and berberine at least 3%. The hydrastine concentrations of goldenseal roots/rhizomes range between 1.5% and 5%, while the berberine concentrations are usually between 0.5% and 4.5%. The alkaloids have synergistic antibacterial activity."

She was right; I was shocked. I had never suspected anything of the sort. Or had I? My "gut reaction" to goldenseal had always been "yuck, poison." Now that my reaction was confirmed, I had more questions. What to use instead? An anti-infective herb is handy, often. Yarrow? Also bitter. Hmmm. Another quest.

I found my answer in old herbals from the 18th century: a North American perennial plant in the aster family (whose common name was a racial slur) was used by native peoples to counter internal and external infections. Since the common name was unusable, I decided to call it by its botanical name: Echinacea.

Echinacea is effective and much better suited to counter infection than goldenseal. Due to over-harvesting, goldenseal — once common from Ontario to Georgia, from Minnesota to New York — is now rare and endangered. Echinacea has become more abundant with use, and is a popular planting at churches and libraries.

Goldenseal is difficult to grow, requiring a deeply-shaded deciduous forest with rich humus. Echinacea is easy to grow in any sunny spot, often multiplying freely. Goldenseal grows far away from people. Echinacea loves to grow as close to people as possible. Goldenseal hides: echinacea flaunts.

Goldenseal alkaloids aren't soluble in water, while many of echinacea's active compounds are. (Though I rarely use echinacea as a tea, strongly preferring root tincture as my medicine.)

And echinacea does not repel me, threaten to make me throw up, or clench my gut as goldenseal does.

My championing echinacea has met with enormous success. Echinacea has become widely used as a reliable anti-infective, not just in its native North America, but all over, with 1.68 billion dollars in sales worldwide in 2023.

Do be careful if you buy echinacea tincture already made though: It's likely to be combined with goldenseal. Some ideas just won't die.

Green blessings surround me.
I walk in beauty.
My breath is a giveaway dance with the plants.
My hearts beats as one with the earth's heart.