Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides): Traditional Uses & Safety

At a glance

Botanical name: Caulophyllum thalictroides
Family: Berberidaceae
Part used: Root, Rhizome
Taste: Acrid, bitter
Temperature: Warm
Moisture: Drying

No pre-1900 source found for this reading.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Contraindicated throughout pregnancy; restricted historical use in final weeks only under direct qualified supervision (Eclectic tradition — King's 1898)

While breastfeeding

Contraindicated during breastfeeding — cardiotoxic alkaloid transfer concerns.

For children

Not indicated

Cautions

HIGH-CAUTION HERB. Contains teratogenic and cardiotoxic alkaloids (N-methylcytisine, taspine). Neonatal myocardial infarction/heart failure documented when used near delivery without expertise. NOT a home-use herb.

General contraindications

Pregnancy (any stage without qualified practitioner); hypertension; heart disease; pediatric use

Stewardship

Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) wild populations declining; Eclectic-era use pressured supply. Choose cultivated if possible. Stewardship: a plant whose medicine requires such rigor that self-use is not appropriate — teach scope humility with it.

In the traditional record

Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) — known as "papoose root" and used by the Iroquois, Cherokee, and Menominee for childbirth, menstrual regulation, and rheumatism; adopted by the Eclectic physicians and documented in King's American Dispensatory as a uterine and antispasmodic partus preparator for the closing weeks of pregnancy.

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Educational use

The Apothecary is educational and does not constitute medical advice. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or managing a diagnosed condition.

On our sources

These entries draw on public-domain materia medica, most of it published before 1900, alongside a smaller number of modern reference works. Energetic qualities such as warming, cooling, drying and moistening are a traditional framework for describing how a plant behaves in the body, not a laboratory measurement. Where a period source states one, we cite it. Where none does, and for many North American herbs none exists, the value reflects modern herbal consensus rather than a historical text. When we cannot support a caution with real evidence, we say nothing rather than guess.