Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis): Traditional Uses & Safety

At a glance

Botanical name: Hydrastis canadensis
Family: Ranunculaceae
Part used: Root, Rhizome
Taste: Bitter
Temperature: Cold
Moisture: Dry

No pre-1900 source found for this reading.

Safety at a glance

In pregnancy

Avoid — affects neonatal bilirubin

While breastfeeding

Contraindicated — berberine transfers to milk; neonatal kernicterus risk.

For children

Avoid under 2; caution under 12

Cautions

Do not use long-term; jaundice in neonates (avoid); avoid in deficiency

General contraindications

Contraindicated — oxytocic, teratogenic concerns

Stewardship

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is IUCN VULNERABLE and CITES Appendix II listed; wild populations collapsing in Appalachian range. USE ONLY CULTIVATED or CERTIFIED-SUSTAINABLE. Stewardship: the ethical endpoint of the wildcrafting movement — Goldenseal asks if we love wild or own it.

In the traditional record

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) — used by the Cherokee and Iroquois as a bitter tonic, antimicrobial wash, and dye; adopted by Eclectic physicians in the 19th century and featured extensively in King's American Dispensatory as a premier mucous membrane tonic for the digestive, respiratory, and genitourinary tracts.

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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.