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Re: Herbal References, was Re: ChoicesFrom: Cheri Van Hoover (cherivh@xdcr.com)Wed Mar 24 21:08:06 2004
Gerald Druff wrote: > > I'm a long time user of ePocrates, just downloaded the Alticopeia trial. > Already I'm confused. One lists squawroot as a synonym for blue cohosh, > the other says it's black cohosh. Anyone know the truth? Also, has > anyone using both run across similar incongruities? > > Jerry This is a common problem when discussing herbal preparations using common names. A great deal of confusion can exist with different herbs being called by simlar names. The only way to really avoid this is to use the scientific names, and most people are unwilling and unable to do this. According to Plant Medicine and Folklore by Mildred Fielder, these are the common and scientific names of these plants: Black cohosh - Cimicifuga racemosa Blue cohosh - Caulophyllum thalictroides Squawroot - Caulophyllum thalictroides But the Connecticut Botanical Society calls this plant squawroot:' Squawroot Conopholis americana http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/conopholisamer.html This free dictionary agrees with Mildred Fielder: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/squawroot But this one agrees with the Connecticut Botanical Society: http://www.brainydictionary.com/words/sq/squawroot223240.html My oldest U.S. Dispensatory by Wood & Bache (1847) doesn't list any of these herbals as medicines. But the 1905 Pharmacopoeia of the United States (by Authority of the United States Pharmacopoeial Convention) does list black cohosh (no blue or squawroot). They say that black cohosh is Cimicifuga and that it is also called snakeroot. A few years later, in 1918, the U.S. Dispensatory had added blue cohosh AKA squawroot (Caulophyllum): http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/usdisp/caulophyllum.html So I would say that ePocrates is the one that didn't do their homework, since they're the ones who identify black cohosh as squawroot. But of course, they may have other sources that do use squawroot as a common name for black cohosh... I actually did find one, myself, which is Jeanne Rose's Herbs and Things (from 1972), in which she says that black cohosh is Cimicifuga racemosa and is also known as squawroot. She's the only one I found, though, and since I knew her personally in 1973 I think I can safely say that she is not the authority I would trust on this. Many of those who use these herbs don't realize that although both are called "cohosh" these are completely different plants from entirely different families. Good work spotting this contradiction between the databases. When I went to the program to check it out, I realized for the first time that ePocrates doesn't seem to include the scientific name for any of their alt med entries. Serious oversight!!
-- Cheri Van Hoover Milky Way Jewels http://www.milkywayjewels.com
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