BLOODROOT
Sanguinaria canadensis
COMMON NAMES: Red puccoon, Indian plant, tetterwort, sanguinaria.
FEATURES: Indigenous to eastern North America, bloodroot, a monotypic genus of the Papaveraceae
family.
The small herb is often difficult to find in its woodland home, where sheltered places and leaf mold are
ideal for its survival. The thick, palmately lobed leaf is lapped around the bud, which swiftly outgrows its
protector, loses its two fugacious sepals, and opens into a star-shaped flower, one to each stem, with
several fleshy white petals and a mass of golden stamens in the center.
The flower closes at night or on shady days and is among the early spring flowers. Often cultivated in
gardens. The leaves continue to grow during the summer, becoming nearly 7 inches long. The seeds are
contained in spindle-shaped capsules.
The whole plant is very brittle and succulent and when broken, especially at its thick, fleshy root, an
acrid red juice bleeds from the divided sections. The root is about the size of a man’s little finger. The
taste is bitter and harsh. The whole plant is medicinal, the root being the part chiefly used. Age and
moisture impair the properties.
MEDICINAL PART: Root.
SOLVENT: Alcohol, water.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Systemic emetic, stimulating expectorant, sialagogue, alterative, tonic, diuretic,
febrifuge.
USES: Used by the aborigines for all blood conditions and as a stain for their skin and dye for decoration.
The action of bloodroot varies according to administration. In small doses it stimulates the digestive
organs, acting as a stimulant and tonic; in large doses it is an arterial sedative. The properties are useful
in chronic bronchitis, laryngitis, croup, asthma, whooping cough, and any complaints of the respiratory
organs. The tincture has been used with success in dyspepsia and dropsy of the chest and in cases of
gastrointestinal catarrh or enlarged, morbid, or jaundiced liver conditions. Bloodroot excites the action of
this large glandular organ whose correct function is so necessary to the complete physical and mental
makeup of our everyday life.
CAUTION: Use only as directed. Large doses are toxic.
DOSE: 1 level teaspoonful of grated root steeped in 1 pint of boiling water for ½ hour. Cool, strain, take a
teaspoonful three to six times a day. Powder as an emetic, 10–20 grains; powder as a stimulant and
expectorant, 3–5 grains; powder used as an alterative, ½–2 grains. Of the tincture, 20–60 drops.
EXTERNALLY: For leukorrhea and hemorrhoids, injections of strong tea is excellent. As an external
remedy the powdered root or tincture acts energetically in cases of fungoid tumors, ringworm, tetter,
warts, etc., at the same time to be taken internally as mentioned. Nasal polypus is often treated by using a
snuff of powdered bloodroot.
HOMEOPATHIC CLINICAL: The resin, leaves, seeds, capsules, powdered root, and expressed juice and
tincture of fresh root for alcoholism, aphonia, asthma, breast (tumor of), bronchitis, cancer, catarrh, chest