Witnessed by: Western
Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), of the Ranunculaceae family. Tall woodland perennial with a knotted black rhizome and long white flower-spikes; native range: rich shady woodlands of eastern North America. Globally recognized as black snakeroot, rattleroot, rattle-top, macrotys in English. The part used is rhizome and root. Blackish knotted root, bitter and acrid with a faintly sweet, resinous aftertaste.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
BLACK COHOSH
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- black cohosh
- Scientific name
- Actaea racemosa L.
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
Form
- Part used
- rhizome and root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · acrid
Temperature
- Western
- cool
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- uterus · nerves · joints · circulation
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- antispasmodic, uterine relaxant, emmenagogue, nervine, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy except as a partus preparator in the final weeks under a practitioner
Toxicity: large doses cause frontal headache, nausea, dizziness and slow pulse; rare reports of liver injury
Interactions
- Western
- hepatotoxic drugs: rare idiosyncratic liver injury may compound other hepatic stress
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