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Sanguinaria
canadensis L.
Standardized Common
Name: Bloodroot
Other Common Names: Indian Paint, Red
Puccoon, Red-root, Sanguinary
Family: Papaveraceae
Taxonomy: Sanguinaria canadensis is endemic to eastern North America; it is
the only species in its genus.
Description: Rhizomatous
perennial herb. Rhizome 2–7 cm long, more or less cylindrical, sometimes
branching, horizontally oriented, with few stem scars on upper surface, roots
below; fresh rhizome and roots contain orange-red latex. Growing apex of
rhizome produces 1 leaf and 1 flowering stalk per season; leaf emerges curled
around flower stalk and attains mature size after time of flowering. Leaf borne
on petiole 7–40 cm high at maturity; blade reniform, (5–)10–20(–28) cm broad,
palmately (5–)7–9-lobed or rarely undulate; lobes irregularly shaped, blunt,
the basal lobes extending backward beyond attachment to petiole; margins often
slightly undulate near apex or with few coarse teeth; color dark green to pale
green, sometimes with glaucous underside; veins sometimes distinctly reddish,
prominent on underside. Flower solitary; sepals 2, green, quickly falling;
petals white or rarely pinkish, 8–12 or rarely doubled, 1.5–3 cm long; stamens
numerous, yellow; ovary 1, with 2-grooved stigma. Fruit a capsule, 2.5–6 cm
long, fusiform, green, drooping, 1-loculed, 2-valved, containing numerous
seeds.
Parts
in Commerce:
Rhizome
Identification:
- 2–7 cm long,
0.5–1(–1.5) cm in diameter
- Unbranched or
branching, with 1 to several short branches
- Cylindrical,
slightly flattened, with blunt ends
- Roots borne on
lower surface, slender, usually breaking
- Occasional
inconspicuous ring-shaped leaf scars, also occasional stem scars on upper
surface
- Outer surface
brown; inside reddish throughout with yellow vascular bundles, or
sometimes pale with numerous red resin dots
- Fracture sharp,
uneven
- In
cross-section, contains epidermis; narrow ring of cortex; circle of
numerous small, yellow vascular bundles; large pith. Latex cells,
containing reddish latex, scattered throughout cortex, pith, and rays
separating vascular bundles. Cells of cortex and pith contain numerous
starch grains
- Taste bitter,
acrid, unpleasant
References:
Fernald ML. Gray’s Manual of Botany, 8th ed. New York: American Book
Company; 1950:679–680.
Kiger RW. Sanguinaria. In: Flora of North
America Editorial Committee, eds. Flora of North America, vol. 3. New
York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1997:305.
Radford AE, Ahles HE, Bell CR. Manual of the
Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North
Carolina Press; 1968.
Youngken HW. Text-Book of Pharmacognosy, 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: The
Blakiston Company; 1943:384–386.
Figure 64: a–b, Sanguinaria canadensis whole rhizome and
cross-section with resin dots.
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