Day 238: Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is reputed to offer a number of health benefits and as a medicinal plant is at risk from over-collecting despite the fact that collection of wild Goldenseal is prohibited by law. I purchased two nursery-raised starts thirty years ago, and today my Goldenseal patch looks the best it has ever done. Until it was listed as endangered, it was commonly dug for the saffron-yellow roots which give it its common name, but even if collection was confined to gathering the leaves, the species would still be in jeopardy. You see, each root produces a single stem which bears a pair of leaves, and that's it. That's all you get: two leaves on each plant, period. I am very judicious with regard to harvesting from my specimens, taking only a few tips from the lobes of any given leaf. Later, as the berries ripen and the photosynthetic process is drawing to a close, I may go back and again take tips from the remaining lobes, but never from every lobe of one leaf. This procedure has allowed my plants to flourish and multiply to the lush bed you see in the photo. Hydrastis belongs to the same family as buttercups and exhibits many of the same habitat preferences. Even though I dug out a thick patch of buttercups to give it a nice home in my garden, they still pop up from time to time to keep it company.
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