# Survival > Bushcraft Medicine >  Bloodroot

## Awanita

Bloodroot:

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) had many uses for native tribes. The juice from the rhizome (root) was used as body paint and dye. A folklore legend says that a tribal woman was presented to a colonist at Jamestown as a bedmate and arrived in nothing but a coating of bloodroot and that this practice of coating the body with bloodroot was the reason the colonists called the natives Red Skins. This story is doubtful as bloodroot is an escharotic and will kill tissue leaving severe disfigurement.

Young men of the Ponca tribe put bloodroot juice on the palm of their hands and tried to touch the palms of the girls of the tribe. They believed that it would make the girl willing to marry them within 5-6 days.

While bloodroot was prescribed for many uses, its more practical use was treating conditions of the skin like ringworm, warts and fungals.

People use the underground stem (rhizome) to make medicine.

Bloodroot is used to cause vomiting, empty the bowels, and reduce tooth pain. It is also used to treat croup, hoarseness (laryngitis), sore throat (pharyngitis), poor circulation in the surface blood vessels, nasal polyps, achy joints and muscles (rheumatism), warts, and fever.

Some people apply bloodroot directly to the skin around wounds to remove dead tissue and promote healing. During the mid-1800s, bloodroot extracts were applied to the skin as part of the Fell Technique for treatment of breast tumors.

In dentistry, bloodroot is used on the teeth to reduce the build-up of plaque. Plaque is a film of saliva, mucus, bacteria, and food particles that can promote gum disease.



How does it work?
Bloodroot contains chemicals that might help fight bacteria, inflammation, and plaque.


Bloodroot might be safe for most people, when used short-term. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, and grogginess.

Skin contact with the fresh plant can cause a rash. Dont let bloodroot get into your eyes because it can cause irritation.

Long-term use or high doses of bloodroot could be UNSAFE. At high doses it can cause low blood pressure, shock, coma, and an eye disease called glaucoma. 

Special Precautions & Warnings:
Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Dont take bloodroot if you are pregnant or breast-feeding. It could be UNSAFE.

Stomach or intestinal problems such as infections, Crohn's disease, or other inflammatory conditions: Bloodroot can irritate the digestive tract. Dont use it if you have any of these conditions.

An eye disease called glaucoma: Bloodroot might affect glaucoma treatment. If you have glaucoma, dont use bloodroot unless a healthcare professional recommends it and monitors your eye health.


The appropriate dose of bloodroot depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for bloodroot. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.


Information from webmd.combloodroot.jpgbloodroot 2.jpg

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## LowKey

Where on WebMD?
A search turns up text from this website as well
http://pioneerthinking.com/health/10...and-their-uses

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## Awanita

Type in Native America herbs and blood root

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## hunter63

This is a lot of good information.........but seems like something for the very experienced to find and use.

I would hate to try something and have a bad effect because I don't know what I'm doing.

Being a herbalists is a high calling requiring a lot of study and as they say in the medical field..."practice".
Not for the casual user.
I do not use anything I do not know exactly what it is...and why. 

DW makes me save a piece of anything I use to show the EMT's

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## Awanita

Hunter thats for the comment, yes you have to be careful on which herb you use and combinations as well. I said on another post that some different herbs can be used to treat the same things so you have to pick and choose wisely. More is not always better. I am very causious about my herbal medicine I will try and post some more on Native American herbs and also some combinations to treat certian things.

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## hunter63

It's just that with the internet......someone will do a search, be referred here, read the post and away they go......
Along with the information comes the responsibility....and common sense isn't so common.
Just saying......

Again thanks for posting......

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## hunter63

Actually.....Personnel experience from my long ago past...resulted in kinda a nasty incident....at the time...in retrospect was traumatic.

Small town...1950's....lived close to edge of town....played in the woods, marshes, creeks near by.
Was a big sand pit....sand dug out and used all over, but left a prefect place to "play army".

Had a WWII helmet liner....was playing "cook" so dug up some roots (???) put them in the "pot" and stirred them up for my "men".

We all got throwing up, stomach burning sick....and of course it was my fault for "cooking" the roots....as my "men" ratted me out.

Never forgot that..........

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## Rick

It's good information. However, when quoting from other sources it's customary to site that/those sources. It also keeps the forum out of legal hot water because of plagiarism.

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## nell67

This is another root that can be dug and sold, but the price ( last time I sold it was 14-15 years ago) was not worth the effort back then, I have not kept up with prices on blood root, it was simply something I dug when in the woods digging ginseng and not having a good day.

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## LowKey

Bloodroot was another one of those double dormancy plants I studied in college. Comes up like crazy from seed if you don't let it dry out. Makes a great ground cover in shady damp places. You can get money for it?

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## oldsoldier

> This is a lot of good information.........but seems like something for the very experienced to find and use.
> 
> I would hate to try something and have a bad effect because I don't know what I'm doing.
> 
> Being a herbalists is a high calling requiring a lot of study and as they say in the medical field..."practice".
> Not for the casual user.
> I do not use anything I do not know exactly what it is...and why. 
> 
> DW makes me save a piece of anything I use to show the EMT's


Hunter your correct IMHO bloodroot is one of the least forgiving plants out there if you mess up and use it incorrectly of use to much of it. However IF used correctly it's a great herb to have on hand ( I've got about a pound) for  a wide variety of things.

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## oldsoldier

> Bloodroot was another one of those double dormancy plants I studied in college. Comes up like crazy from seed if you don't let it dry out. Makes a great ground cover in shady damp places. You can get money for it?


 Lowkey Yep last time I checked it was going for about $39.00 a pound.

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## LowKey

Wet or dry. If dry, that's a LOT of bloodroot for $40.

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## Enigma

I don't like common names to describe plants. Latin names make much more sense.

This is the "Bloodroot" i am used to. Haemodorum spicatum (see image below)

The roots are edible and spicy.

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## hunter63

Personnel I do not have a use for Latin names.
Not useful in talking with the old guy that lives down the road......

Ask him about "Haemodorum spicatum".....and he will say "What"?

Ask him about blood root....and he will have an answer, use, location....and stories of past experiences.

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## Enigma

> Personnel I do not have a use for Latin names.
> Not useful in talking with the old guy that lives down the road......
> 
> Ask him about "Haemodorum spicatum".....and he will say "What"?
> 
> Ask him about blood root....and he will have an answer, use, location....and stories of past experiences.


Common names when talking with common people. Nothing wrong with that, but Latin is used for ID'ing things. Thats all you can use for ID'ing properly. Latin must be useful for you that way surely?
Do you do much ID'ing and research when you're out in the sticks? I do a fair bit, and all the research texts and field guides use latin first, common names second. You'd be surprised how many totally different plants have the exact same common name, and also more than one common name. It's quite ridiculous sometimes. The early settlers down this way, were'nt too inventive with common names.

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## hunter63

Most of my out door time is hunting, fishing....and that may/ or may not involves camping in several ways, in different places.

Learning the ways of the woods, weather, seasons, animal behavior, and hunting methods.

That said, I do forage mushrooms, a few kinds,... morels, puffballs, and Hen of the woods.
Also asparagus, dandelion greens, root, cattails (whole plant)....nuts and berries in season....haven't found the need to get deeper into it.

Most all my experience and education has been at the side of mentors....Father, Uncles, older/new friends and even a Elder Native American women, that took my friend and I on foraging walks.


So....no haven't needed to learn Latin, yet.
Have an acquaintance that does uses scientific names and terms as often as he can..........I find it quite un-necessary, and shuts off that "button" that blocks it out.

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## Enigma

I understand. I learnt funghi foraging living in the Alps of Northern Italy in the early 90's, and was told the common names, and that was fine. Unfortunately when living in an English speaking country, and years later, teaching stuff as formal lessons, we use Latin first, then any common names, like "Shaggy Parasol" etc.

I get in the habit of learning any new plant by it's Latin name first, and with many, I dont even know what any common name will be, because I have found a lot of the English early settlers used the same stupid name for a huge amount of varieties. Some stuff doesn't have a common name anyway, because no one except aboriginals used it. 

here's an example

Cyttaria gunnii, commonly known as the myrtle orange or beech orange. Nothing to do with Beech trees or Oranges ! It is an edible fungus with a black spore print.

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## hunter63

I not against using Latin names......especially when teaching....
I'm saying I don't find it useful...to me.

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## Auban

i like to learn both the Latin names and the common names.  Latin names are practically useless when talking to someone who doesnt know them, but its still useful because if i google the Latin name, i can find detailed descriptions of it.  

armed with the detailed descriptions, i can find out what species we are talking about when i talk to people who only know the common name.  take hog plum for instance.  its a common name that is used for three different species of wild plum in north america, and as i just recently learned, also used for a fruit that isnt even in the same genus.  and i know of a few fish that have six(possibly more) common names.  same for lizards.  

is it a penny neck, a green anole, an american chameleon, an american anole, a carolina anole, or a red throated anole?  well, if its Anolis carolinensis, its all of them.  if someone is trying to describe it to me, its on me to know what they are talking about.  because "penny neck" is used for two different species, as is american chameleon.  

thats where the scientific name becomes important.  

i would say you have to know both if you really want to relate to others and learn from them.  you only need the scientific name to identify it, but you need the common names in order to know what people are talking about.

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