Actaea racemosa - Black cohosh

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Actaea racemosa inflorescence, Black cohosh

Black Cohosh Actaea racemosa has been used by Native Americans for more than two hundred years, after they discovered the root of the plant helped relieve menstrual cramps and symptoms of menopause. These days it is still used for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes/flushes, irritability, mood swings and sleep disturbances.

Uses

Tentex forte, Muscle & Joint Rub, Impotency & Erectile dysfunction, Diarrhoea, Pharyngitis & Sore Throat, Toothache, Pyorrhea, Common Cold, Childhood apraxia of speech, Delayed Speech Development.

Parts Used

Dried Roots, Leaves, Flower.

Chemical Composition

Analysis has shown a brown, resinous, acrid substance, insoluble in potassium hydroxide and probably containing pelletonin, two oils soluble in potassium hydroxide - one dark brown and acrid, the other yellow - tannin, gum, potassium sulphate and carbonate, potassium chloride, calcium phosphate and carbonate, silica, alumina, lignin, etc. An alkaloid, Pyrethrine, yielding pyrethric acid, is stated to be the active principle.

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada
Hindi	Akarkara
Malayalam	Akkarakaaram
Tamil
Telugu
Marathi	NA
Gujarathi	NA
Punjabi	NA
Kashmiri	NA
Sanskrit	Akarkarabh
English	Pellitory

Habit

Procumbent herb

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Smooth	Alternate, Pinnate	The leaves are with deeply-cut segments

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Unisexual	14-18cm long	Yellow, Circular		Each bears one large flower the disk being yellow and the rays white, tinged with purple beneath.

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
		Syncarp (sorosis), subglobose or ellipsoid with long echinate processes, orange when ripe	seeds many, ovoid.		{{{6}}}

Other features

List of Ayurvedic medicine in which the herb is used

• Vishatinduka Taila as root juice extract

Mode of Propagation

Seeds, Cuttings.

How to plant/cultivate

Aracemosa grows in dependably moist, fairly heavy soil. It bears tall tapering racemes of white midsummer flowers on wiry black-purple stems, whose mildly unpleasant, medicinal smell at close range gives it the common name "Bugbane"

Commonly seen growing in areas

Mediterranian, Himalayas, Arabian countries.

Photo Gallery

• 

  Var. depressus

• 

  same plant, flower detail

• 

  Var. depressus, flowers closed