SARSAPARILLA
Aralia nudicaulis
COMMON NAMES: Red sarsaparilla, small spikenard, spignet, quay, quill.
FEATURES: There are several species of sarsaparilla that are indigenous to Central America, southern
Mexico, northern South America, and such West Indian islands as Jamaica. The name sarsaparilla is
derived from the Spanish zarza (shrub) and parrilla (little vine), known in the south as bamboo brier.
Aralia racemosa, American sarsaparilla, is a member of the ginseng family.
The sarsaparilla of commercial use consists of very long roots having a thick bark of a grayish or
brownish color, with many slender rootlets, deeply furrowed longitudinally. When cut, sections show a
brown, hard bark with a porous center portion. The roots that have a deep orange tint are the best, and the
stronger the acrid and nauseous qualities the better are the properties of the root. Height 1–2 feet, bearing
several bunches of yellowish green flowers, followed by clusters of small berries resembling, to some
extent, the common elderberry.
Chemically we know the root contains salseparin, a coloring matter; starch; chloride of potassium;
essential oil, basserin; albumin; and pectic and acetic acids; and the several salts of lime, potash,
magnesium, and oxide of iron. The taste is mucilaginous, with scarcely any odor.
MEDICINAL PART: Root.
SOLVENTS: Water, dilute alcohol.
BODILY INFLUENCE: Alterative, diuretic, demulcent, stimulant, antiscorbutic.
USES: Alfred Metraus, Swedish anthropologist, found Amazon Indians using sarsaparilla to cure general
debilities, and he said that it was invigorating to the entire system. Indian hunting expeditions subsisted
for long periods on sarsaparilla root.
In the mid-1800s sarsaparilla was something of a national phenomenon in the United States as a spring
tonic to eliminate poisons from the blood and purify the system from all leftover infections of winter. It is
dependably useful in rheumatism, gout, skin eruptions, ringworm, scrofula, internal inflammation, colds,
catarrh, fever, and to relieve gas from stomach and bowels.
When in need of an excellent antidote for deadly poisons, cleanse stomach with an emetic, causing