Hydrastis canadensis
Hydrastis canadensis goldenseal


Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), a.k.a. orangeroot, yellow-root and yellow puccoon, is a vulnerable native herb in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It is generally uncommon and sometimes rare due to over-collecting. If you happen to find it, please keep the exact location private; county-level is sufficient.
Goldenseal grows in rich deciduous forests, often in association with twinleaf and squirrel-corn. Young plants erupting from seeds can remain as cotyledons for a year or more. In the second and third years (or longer), a single leaf develops. It takes four to five years for a plant to actually begin flowering. At this stage, it has a single stem with two alternate, palmately-lobed leaves and one broad basal leaf, all with toothed edges and fairly-deep sinuses. (The leaves sometimes resemble silver maple leaves.)
At the top of mature plants, there is a single terminal flower with three sepals and 12+ greenish-white stamens. There are no petals. Fertilized flowers grow into red, raspberry-like fruits with one or two seeds. Goldenseal also grows in patches of interconnected ramets reproducing asexually through clonal propagation of the rhizomes.
On the USDA range map for Pennsylvania, goldenseal occurs in a zig-zag pattern from Ohio to the Delaware River. This includes all of the western counties from Crawford and Butler down to Greene, Fayette and Somerset, then north to Jefferson and northeast to Centre, then down to Franklin. Goldenseal's range apparently skips over Bedford and Fulton Counties, then continues with a separate population covering Dauphin and all the southeast counties by skipping over Lebanon County. A reminder that due to long-term decline from over-collecting and habitat loss, please restrict your public location information to the county level.
Habitat & Range
Rare in rich, moist decidious woods, can be locally abundant.
Present in the south-west and south-east.
Wetland code: Not classified
Phenology
Flowers April to early June.
Plant Codes
PA status: PV (Vulnerable)
S-rank: S3 (Vulnerable)
G-rank: G3 (Vulnerable)