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Notes: This plant is indigenous to the Garden area. Eloise Butler recorded finding it on April 19, 1908. She had in 1907 obtained some plants from within Glenwood Park itself; in 1910 from a source in South Minneapolis, on April 13, 1912 from Minnehaha Park, and she later obtained plants of this species from the Fort Snelling Reservation on May 6, 1913 and July 24, 1919. Martha Crone noted in her log of planting 20 plants in 1934. Native to most of Minnesota except for 21 scattered counties in the western section of the state. In North American, Bloodroot is found from the central states and central Canadian provinces eastward.
Eloise Butler wrote in 1911: "Who does not know the bloodroots - babes in the wood - each closely wrapped in the swaddling blanket of a quaintly fashioned grayish-green leaf? As the leaf unrolls the flower bud is disclosed, ensheathed in two thin, pale yellowish green sepals, which fall as the snow white corolla expands. The petals, some eight to twelve, are evanescent and will not endure rough handling or a long journey. Hence let us leave them to light up the woodland. The flower passes quickly from infancy to maturity. Presently nothing is left but the seed pod. But the leaf continues to grow lustily. It is an attractive feature with its odd lobation and prominent reddish veins. The red fleshy subterranean stem is the origin of the name bloodroot. The relationship of the bloodroot to the poppy is shown by the two sepals which fall so easily." (Published in the Sunday Minneapolis Tribune, May 7, 1911 Read entire article.)
Lore and Medicinal use: This plant has an extensive history of folk medicine and pharmacological use. While all parts of the plant are poisonous in quantity, the root (a rhizome) is of use for medicinal purposes by trained persons. The use of the dried rhizome was listed in the USP from 1820 to 1926 and in the National Formulary from 1926 to 1965, The rhizome contains alkaloids of the protopine series: sanguinarine, chelerythrine and yellowish salts. It was used to relieve spasms, as a cathartic, an antiseptic, an emetic and used for bronchitis, asthma, croup and laryngitis. Dr. Clapp reports in his book A synopsis or Systematic Catalog of the Medicinal Plants of the United States (Collins, Philadelphia, 1852) that he used it for 30 years to cure or relieve pneumonia, emphysema and spasmodic asthma. It was sometimes reported to be a cure for snakebite and the juice was said to work as an insect repellent. One of the most interesting uses was as a cure for surface cancers. Since both the powdered rhizome and juice from it are extremely caustic, chemically capable of corroding and destroying tissue, this seemed to have the desired effect on surface cancers and fungal growths. Because of the strength of the powders and extracts made from the root, it was used in very small quantities. It is also bitter and acrid. When de-watered and thoroughly dried, the root can by used to make flour. Native Americans had used the plant for similar purposes and the settlers at Jamestown learned from them.
The inner bark of the stem produces a red to dark red dye depending on what other plant it is boiled with. Densmore (Ref. #5) produces two formulas, one of which was particularly effective in dying porcupine quills.
Poem: Bloodroot by Elaine Goodale Eastman (1863 - 1953)
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