Black cohosh is a woodland wildflower native to eastern North America. The popular garden perennial blooms with tall, graceful white bottle brush flowers. At the base of each plant is a mass of twisted rhizomes that give black cohosh one of its most common names: black snakeroot.

Black cohosh’s rhizomes and roots are commonly wild- harvested and used for herbal medicine. To Native Americans, black cohosh was known as “squawroot” and prized as a remedy for women’s health problems. Some studies suggest that black cohosh has estrogenic effects, and it is still used by herbal practitioners to treat menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, irritability, mood swings, and anxiety.

Typically, dried black cohosh roots and rhizomes are prepared as a tea. The taste is bitter and acrid, and may be more palatable as an encapsulated powder or blended with ginger, licorice, or orange peel.