goldenseal monograph

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Golden Seal

Hydrastis canadensis

Ranunculaceae

Rhizoma Hydrastidis Canadensitis

Botanical description and harvesting: The leaf is born on a stem about

25-40cm tall. The leaf is light green and broadly palmate with deep

divisions. The small flower appears in the late spring and yields to a soft

red fruit, which contains 10-30 black seeds. The dark yellow rhizome is

1-2cm thick and approximately 5cm long. Because of the serious danger of

extinction in the wild this plant should never be picked in the wild and

should only be purchased from organic sources.

Good quality is cultivated. The root should be firm to hard and a dark

yellow to golden color with few rootlets. The taste of root is sharply

bitter and slightly astringent.

Qi and Flavor: bitter, cold

Channels entered: heart, liver, lung, gallbladder, stomach, large intestine

Actions: antiinflammatory, antibacterial, astringent, cholagogue,

antimucous, antifungal

Functions & Indications: Clears heat and dries dampness in the intestines

and stomach. For damp-heat dysenteric disorders, also for damp-heat

affecting the intestines with symptoms such as hemorrhoids, fissured anus

and prolapsed anus with ulcerations. Golden seal is excellent when heat has

scorched the fluids creating phlegm. For stomach heat causing stomach pain,

nausea, vomiting, pyorrhea alveolaris, gingivitis with or without bleeding,

and malodorous breath.

Clears heat and transforms phlegm for phlegm-heat obstructing the lungs with

symptoms of cough, abundant malodorous yellow, green or dark sputum, thick

sticky yellow tongue coating and a rapid and slippery pulse. Also for

phlegm-heat obstructing the nasal passages.

Clear damp-heat obstruction of the liver and gallbladder channels and moves

blood for symptoms such as pain in the hypochondriac, flank and genital

areas, jaundice and other damp-heat symptoms such as itching in the genital

area, hot or burning of the lower urinary tract or vagina, warmth and pain

in the liver area, constipation or diarrhea and dark malodorous urine with

or without burning. Also useful for heat and dampness lodged in the channels

with generalized muscle aches.

Externally as a powder, wash, or douche this herb is very important for the

treatment of many heat disorders including conjunctivitis, bacterial

vaginosis, vaginitis, cervicitis, athletes foot, abrasions, etc.

Cautions: This herb both strongly clears heat and dries damp therefore both

patterns must be present when using this herb. This herb should not be used

long term. Use with caution for those with spleen qi vacuity. This herb is

best avoided during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. Avoid use

for nursing mothers.

Dosage and Preparation: 2-6g in decoction (up to 15g may be used), 1-4ml in

tincture.

Best used as a tincture or draft, however it is effective as a decoction.

Major Combinations: Combine with Boneset and Bupluerum for liver-gallbladder

damp-heat with symptoms such as alternating heat effusion and aversion to

cold, bitter taste in the mouth, nausea and vomiting, rib-side pain and,

dark yellow or reddish urine. This is xiao yang disease from Zhang Ji's

Shang Han Lun.

Combine with Rhubarb for damp-heat in the intestines with abscess,

constipation, diarrhea, and/or foul gas.

Combine with California Figwort, Red Root, and Cleavers for phlegm-heat

nodules in the neck or inguinal area. Add Ocotillo for nodules in the

inguinal area.

Combine with Chinese Skullcap and Magnolia buds for purulent nasal discharge

and blockage of sinus' by phlegm-heat.

With Coptis for damp-heat patterns of the middle and lower jiao with

symptoms of acid regurgitation, diarrhea, vaginal discharge, scanty yellow

urine with possible bleeding in any case.

With Gentian for damp-heat patterns in the liver and gallbladder channels

with symptoms of jaundice; pain, swelling, or dampness in the genital area;

itchiness in the genital area.

Commentary: This herb was known by the Whites and was exported to England as

early as 1759. It was not until 1852, when it appeared in the Eclectic

Dispensatory of the United States, that Golden Seal was used extensively in

" professional " medicine. Golden Seal is the " yellow " of preference in

Western herbalism. It can be compared to both Chinese Skullcap and Coptis in

its medicinal properties. Unlike the Chinese yellows this yellow does not

necessarily have a preference for any particular jiao and is used equally in

any of the three, as one can see from the functions and indications above.

This is a very potent herb but is best used as a tincture as many of the

constituents are not, or only slightly, water-soluble. Although it does have

a long history of use in the Native American tradition as an infusion and

decoction, and will be effective as such, I recommend that it be used as a

properly prepared tincture. It is also effective used as a powder or as a

draft.

The Eclectics used Golden Seal for boggy, atonic mucous membranes with a

tendency to over-secrete, bleed, or develop low-grade infections. This

speaks to the supposed Greek origins of the name Hydrastis, meaning to stop

bleeding. However, the Latin would yield a broader and perhaps more accurate

definition, meaning to stop the flow of fluid.

This plant is in serious danger in its wild habitat and only recently has it

been cultivated. For these reasons I urge you to only use this herb from

cultivated sources. As early as 1898, in King's American Dispensatory, the

danger of Golden Seal's sensitivity was noted. In this text Felter and Lloyd

state, " the plant disappears as soon as the ground is disturbed by the

settler. "

Golden Seal was listed in the United States Pharmacopeia, 1831-42 and

official 1863-1936 and in the National Formulary, 1936-60. Golden Seal is

currently official in the British Herbal Pharmacopeia 1996.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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