What is Black Cohosh ?Black Cohosh - A Lady's Herb.
Content:
- .Botanical Data of Black Cohosh.
- .Narrative History of Black cohosh.
- .Application and Uses of Black cohosh.
- .Phytochemicals,constituents and functional mechanism of Black Cohosh.
- .Historical Development of Black Cohosh.
- .Modern Use and application of Black cohosh.
- .Black Cohosh Physiology.
- .Clinical studies of Black Cohosh.
- .Dosage and other comments.
- .Skunk Bugbane and Application.
- .How Search engine think about black cohosh.
Botanical Data of Black Cohosh.
Scientific name:Actaea racemosa L.; Botanical synonyms: Cimicifuga racemosa (L.) Nutt. Macrotys actaeoides; Botrophis serpentaria Raf.; B. actaeeoides Fisch. & C.A. Mey.; Thalictrodes racemosa (Kl. Kuntze).
Family:Ranunculaceae
Latin name:Cimicifuga racemosa ;
Other names:Black snake root, bugbane, bugwort, rattle root, squaw root,Actaea racemosa,Cimicifuga racemosa,black snakeroot,bugbane,bugwort,rattleroot,rattletop,rattleweed.black cohosh, black snakeroot, squaw root, rattle root, rattle weed, rattle top, bugbane, cohosh, bugbane, Cimicifuga. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), shengma refers to the rhizomes of other Actaea (=Cimicifuga) spp. (A. heracleifolia, A. dahurica, and A. foetida).Black Snakeroot, Squaw Root, Rattle Root, Bugbane; possibly Actaea racemosa
Note: Actaea racemosa (black cohosh) should not be confused with Caulophyllum thalictroides (L.) Michaux (Berberidaceae) (blue cohosh), an entirely different plant.
Popular uses:Black cohosh has effects similar to the female hormone estrogen. It's used to relieve premenstrual cramps, painful periods and menopausal disorders, such as hot flashes, anxiety and depression
Cultivation: Currently, there is no large-scale cultivation of black cohosh, though it is easy to cultivate and its growing popularity with consumers suggests that such cultivation is a critical next step.
Following its first description by Plukenet in 1696, Linnaeus first classified black cohosh as Actaea racemosa. It was later reclassified by Pursh as Cimicifuga after a temporary placement in the genus Macrotys (Foster, 1999). Recently, however, the genus Cimicifuga was changed back to Actaea following extensive DNA sequence mapping and morphological studies (Compton et al., 1998). Accordingly, in this monograph we revert to Actaea racemosa.
The genus Actaea comprises 15 species of erect perennial plants of northern temperate distribution. A. racemosa, commonly called black cohosh, is native to eastern North America. Black cohosh, familiar to herbalists and gardeners, is a wildflower of moist or dry woods cultivated as an ornamental. It is found in shady, rich soil in woods from Maine to Ontario and Wisconsin, south to Georgia. The hardy perennial produces clumps of quadrangular stems up to 3 m tall. It has large, alternate, 3-pinnately compound leaves with toothed edges, the middle lobe being the largest. The terminal leaflet is 3-lobed. The flowers are petalless with greenish-white sepals borne in tall racemes well-above the foliage. Blooming from June through September, the flowers are thought to be pollinated by flesh flies (Strauch, 1995; Leung and Foster, 1996).
The previous generic name, Cimicifuga, is from the Latin cimex, a kind of insect, and fugare, "to put to flight." The English equivalent is bugbane and refers to the belief that the plant's strong odor repels insects; in Europe and Siberia, pillows and mattresses were formerly stuffed with the dried tops of the Eurasian species (A. foetida) for this purpose. "Racemosa" refers to the arrangement of individual flowers on an elongated stock. "Cohosh" comes from an Algonquin word meaning "rough" and refers to the plant's lumpy, blackish rhizomes. Alternate names, such as "rattle weed," refer to the sound of the dry seeds in their pods atop the flower stalks (Stauch, 1995).
Synonyms of Black Cohosh:
23-epi-26-deoxyactein, Actaea macrotys, Actaea racemosa L., actee a grappes, Amerikanisches wanzenkraut, baneberry, BCE, black cohosh roots black snakeroot, botrophis serpentaria, bugwort, cohosh bugbane, cimicifuga, Cimicifugae racemosae rhizoma, cimicifugawurzelstock cimicifugoside M, cimiracemoside A , cimiracemoside B, cimiracemoside C, cimiracemoside D, cimiracemoside E, cimiracemoside F, cimiracemoside G, cimiracemoside H , CR, CR extract, ethanolic aqueous extract, herbe au punaise, hydroxytyrosol, ICR, isoferulic, isopropanolic black cohosh extract, macrotys, Macrotys actaeoides, phenylpropanoids (cimiracemate A, cimiracemate B) Ranunculaceae, rhizome of black cohosh, rich weed, rattle root, rattle snakeroot, rattle top, rattle weed, rhizoma actaeae richweed, schwarze schlangenwurzel, solvlys, squaw root, Thalictrodes racemosa , Traubensilberkerze, Wanzwnkraut.
Note: Do not confuse black cohosh with blue cohosh ( Caulophyllum thalictroides ), which contains chemicals that may damage the heart and raise blood pressure. Do not confuse black cohosh ( Cimicifuga racemosa ) with cimicifuga foetida , bugbane, fairy candles, or sheng ma; these are species from the same family ( Ranunculaceae ) with different effects.
Recently (1998) there has been a move to place the entire genus of Cimicifuga into the genus of Actaea (baneberry). This is due to morphological and DNA sequence studies.
Reference:
1.What is Black Cohosh ?Black Cohosh - A Lady's Herb.
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