Xanthorhiza · Kew POWO · Kew Plants of the World Online
Xanthorhiza
Sign in to saveXanthorhiza simplicissima (yellowroot) is the only member of the genus Xanthorhiza, and one of very few genera in the family Ranunculaceae with a woody stem (the other notable example being Clematis). It is native to the eastern United States from Maine south to northern Florida and west to Ohio and eastern Texas. It contains the alkaloid berberine, which has a number of traditional and contemporary uses for dyeing and medicine.
Species
GENUS
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassMagnoliopsida
- OrderRanunculales
- FamilyRanunculaceae
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 124
- With media
- 69
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Collections
- CAS, GA, MICH, TAES, US
- Recorded in
- United States
Research
12 papers- Berberine and Its Role in Chronic Disease.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2016
- [About Turmeric xanthorhiza].Revue de phytotherapie · 1946
- Cytotoxic isoquinoline alkaloids from Xanthorhiza simplicissima.Gaoxiong yi xue ke xue za zhi = The Kaohsiung journal of medical sciences · 1989
- Antimicrobial properties of alkaloids from Xanthorhiza simplicissima.Journal of pharmaceutical sciences · 1994
- A mini review on marshal (yellowroot): phytochemistry and ethnobotanical significance.Natural product research · 2025
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Ranunculaceae
- Image
- Yellowroot- Xanthorhiza simplicissima.JPG
Show 6 more facts
- taxon name
- Xanthorhiza
- taxon rank
- genus
- topic's main category
- Category:Xanthorhiza
- taxon common name
- yellowroot
- Commons category
- Xanthorhiza
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~3 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Description
- Cultivation
- Traditional use
- References
- External links
Xanthorhiza simplicissima (yellowroot) is the only member of the genus Xanthorhiza, and one of very few genera in the family Ranunculaceae with a woody stem (the other notable example being Clematis). It is native to the eastern United States from Maine south to northern Florida and west to Ohio and eastern Texas. It contains the alkaloid berberine, which has a number of traditional and contemporary uses for dyeing and medicine.
The genus name as well as the common name refer to the plant's yellow roots (xantho- meaning "yellow" and rhiza meaning "root"), which was used to produce a yellow dye by Native Americans. The specific epithet refers to the simple (not branched) stems.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Xanthorhiza” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.