The plant is native to North America and Canada, and the material used medicinally comes primarily from wild collections in these areas. In herbal medicine, the dried rhizome (rhizome) collected after fruit ripening and the roots (Cimicifugae racemosae rhizoma) are used.
Characteristics of black cohosh
Black cohosh is a perennial herbaceous plant up to 2 m tall. The large double or triple pinnate leaves are mainly located on the upper part of the long, erect stems.
The plant also has small white flowers arranged in a long, narrow raceme. After flowering, they develop bellows fruits with many seeds.
Features of the remedy
The rootstock of the plant is up to 15 cm long and up to 2 cm thick. On the upper side there are numerous stigmas and stem remnants, and below there are reddish-brown, thin and easily broken roots.
The cut material consists of dark brown, irregularly shaped root and rhizome pieces, which show the dark pith in cross-section. In addition, many small, thin, reddish-brown root pieces with longitudinal furrows occur.
Smell and taste of the root
Black cohosh rootstock spreads a peculiar, quite unpleasant odor. The taste of the rhizome is pungent, bitter and astringent (astringent).
