Media

Scientific Name
Hydrastis canadensis
Family
Ranunculaceae (crowfoots; buttercups)
Description
Golden seal is an herbaceous perennial. Flowers are terminal on a short peduncle (stem) arising from the axil of 2-leaved plants. The peduncle supports a very small leaf. The flower has no petals; 3 sepals fall off as the flower opens, leaving only white stamens and pistils in a rounded cluster that is about ½ inch wide. Blooms April–May. Leaves distinctive, with a crinkled texture, either 1 or at most 2, near the top of the hairy, unbranching stem; leaves large, 5-lobed with palmate veins, the lobes with large, coarse teeth. After flowering, a few basal leaves of the same shape appear. Fruit single, a compact, compound, scarlet berry, resembling a raspberry.
Other Common Names
Goldenseal
Size
Height: to about 6 inches.
Where To Find

Mostly in the Ozarks and in Central Missouri. Absent from most northernwestern and southwestern counties.
Habitat and Conservation
Occurs in moist, humus-rich wooded slopes and wooded valleys. Golden seal sometimes forms very large colonies.
Human Connections
The roots and sometimes the leaves are used medicinally, a practice that continues from Native American and frontier folk medicine. Numerous studies are focusing on its potential benefits as well as its toxicity. One concern is interactions that golden seal has with other medications.
Ecosystem Connections
Golden seal has long been declining throughout its range in part due to habitat destruction but mostly because of unscrupulous root collectors. Fortunately, today market demand is met by cultivated roots.
Title
Media Gallery
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Caption
Large, crinkled, palmately 5-lobed leaves distinguish golden seal, which occurs in moist woods in the Ozarks and Central Missouri.
Credit
Anonymous
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Image
Caption
Golden seal has 1 or 2 very distinctive leaves that are large, crinkled, palmately lobed, and coarsely toothed.
Credit
Julianna Schroeder
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Image
Caption
Golden seal flowers have no petals; the 3 sepals fall off as the flower opens, leaving only white stamens and pistils in a rounded cluster about ½ inch wide.
Credit
Julianna Schroeder
Right to Use
Image
Caption
Golden seal occurs in moist, humus-rich wooded slopes and wooded valleys.
Credit
Julianna Schroeder
Right to Use
Image
Caption
Golden seal has long been declining throughout its range mostly because of unscrupulous root collectors.
Credit
Julianna Schroeder
Right to Use
Image

Credit
Submitted by Mike Conley
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Free to use
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Title
Similar Species
About Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants in Missouri
A very simple way of thinking about the green world is to divide the vascular plants into two groups: woody and nonwoody (or herbaceous). But this is an artificial division; many plant families include some species that are woody and some that are not. The diversity of nonwoody vascular plants is staggering! Think of all the ferns, grasses, sedges, lilies, peas, sunflowers, nightshades, milkweeds, mustards, mints, and mallows — weeds and wildflowers — and many more!