Description: This native perennial plant is about 1' tall and unbranched. The central stem is light green to reddish green and quite hairy. Some plants produce a single basal leaf on a long hairy petiole, while others do not. All plants produce a pair of leaves on short hairy petioles near the apex of the central stem. The basal leaf is up to 8" long and across, while the upper leaves are somewhat smaller. Both types of leaves are palmately lobed (about 5 lobes), and doubly serrated or cleft along the margins. While the plant is in bloom, they are quite wrinkled and hairy in appearance, but become less so with maturity.
A single flower develops from the
uppermost leaf of the stem. This flower is about ½" across, consisting
of 3 deciduous sepals, no petals, approximately 40 spreading stamens, and
approximately 12 clustered pistils in the center. The greenish white sepals
drop early and are not present while the flower is in bloom. The stamens have
white filaments and yellow or greenish yellow anthers. The flattened pistils
have short beaks and they are initially green. The blooming period occurs from
mid- to late spring and lasts about 2-3 weeks. By mid- to late summer, the
pistils have become a small cluster of bright red berries. Each berry contains
1 or 2 black shiny seeds. The root system consists of knotty yellow rhizomes
and fibrous roots. This plant reproduces vegetatively and by seed. It
occasionally forms small colonies.
Cultivation: The preference is dappled sunlight
during the spring to light shade during the summer, moist to mesic conditions,
and a fertile loamy soil with an abundance of leaf mould. Wild plants are
little bothered by disease, although stressed out cultivated plants can be
attacked by leaf blight (Bortrytis sp.) and other
diseases. Slugs
eat seedlings and the foliage of mature plants, while root knot nematodes
occasionally attack the root system. Starting plants from seeds is slow, while
vegetative propagation from rhizomes is easier and faster.
Range & Habitat: Goldenseal occurs occasionally
in scattered counties throughout Illinois, although populations have been
declining because of habitat destruction and over-collection of the rhizomes.
Habitats include moist to mesic deciduous woodlands and areas along woodland
paths. A limited amount of disturbance is beneficial when it reduces excessive
shade from the overhead canopy.
Faunal
Associations: The flowers are pollinated by small Halictid bees
primarily, and they are also visited by Syrphid flies and larger bees (Sharp,
2003). Presumably birds or small mammals eat the berries and help to distribute
the seeds, but little specific information is available about this. Little is
known about the attractiveness of the foliage to mammalian
herbivores.
Photographic Location: A
deciduous woodland in Vermillion County, Illinois.
Comments: This plant has a unique appearance because
of the wrinkled palmate foliage and unusual flowers. The biggest threat to this
species is over-collection of the rhizomes for herbal medicine; these rhizomes
can sell for $100/lb. on the wholesale market. They contain the alkaloids
hydrastine, berberine, and canadine. Hydrastine is used for feminine
complaints, berberine has anti-bacterial and anti-protozoan properties, and
canadine is a sedative and muscle relaxant. Under the CITES convention, it is
illegal to export the rhizomes from wild-collected plants in the United
States.