* Please Note: Traditional Use information is provided as a courtesy only. Although we have done our best to review the validity of these uses and we continue to revise this information as new data emerges, the traditional uses indicated on this page for this product may be wrong. This information is based on Traditional and Folklore Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA and is not necessarily based on scientific evidence from any source. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Blood Root Sanguinaria canadensis L. Papaveniceae, Poppy family.
Other Common Names: Red Puccoon, Indian Paint, Tetterwort.
Blood Root is native to North America, east of the Great Plains from Canada, south to Florida. It is found in rich and usually open woodlands.
Blood Root is one of the very first plants to flower in the spring. As it first rises out of the ground, the single, small, reniform (kidney-shaped), lobed leaf is wrapped around the bud. Once out of the ground, the bud swiftly outgrows its protecting leaf. The flower bursts free of two enclosing sepals which fall away to expose eight to twelve spreading white petals. In the center of the petals is a cluster of golden stamens, usually twice as many stamens as the number of petals. The flower is followed in late spring by a slender, two-valved seed capsule containing numerous seeds. During the rest of the growing season, the leaf comes into its own and can attain a size of twelve inches across.
When fresh, the root is about the size and shape of a man's finger; when cut or broken, it bleeds a red juice. American Indians used the root medicinally, and to paint their bodies for various occasions.
Calling the plant by its Indian name, Puccoon, John Smith wrote in 1612, "Pocones is a small root that groweth in the mountains which being dryed and beate in powder turneth red and this they use for swellings, aches, annointing their joints, painting their heads and garments." But that's not all they painted. "...and at night where his lodging is appointed, they set a woman fresh painted red with Pocones and oile, to be his bedfellow."
Colonel William Byrd, Virginia planter and scholar, in his History of the Dividing Line, (North Carolina - Virginia) wrote that such practices were still going on in 1729, much to the chagrin of the chaplain of his survey party, who "observ'd with concern that the Ruffles of Some of our Pellow Travellers were a little discolor'd with pochoon, wherewith the good Man had been told those Ladies us'd to improve their invisible charms." My research indicates that this is the first recorded case in the New World of what in modern times is known as "lipstick on the collar, telling a tale on you!"
Blood Root is still used today as a natural vegetable dye largely for wool and other textiles, now that body painting, after a brief resurgence in the 1960's, has decreased in popularity. Some excellent white oak splint basketry is still woven by the Cherokees. The splints are often dyed with Blood Root to give them a soft red color.
Medicinally, the dried rhizome of the Blood Root was official in the United States Pharmacopea from 1820 till 1926, and remained in the National Formulary from 1925 to 1965, classed as a stimulating expectorant, emetic, tonic and alterative. The plant drug, if taken internally, should be used with caution because, like many drugs, it is poisonous in all but small doses. The powder is used as a snuff for nasal polyps. Injections of the strong tea are used to treat hemorrhoids and vaginal infections. In small doses internally as a decoction, it acts as a stimulant to the digestive organs, as an expectorant in respiratory problems and in tincture form to treat liver ailments. In larger doses it acts as an emetic.
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Directions
Apply Bianca Rosa cream morning and evenings, or as directed by a health care practitioner. On a moist cotton wool pad or with the fingertips, apply to the desired area of the body. Massage onto thoroughly cleansed skin with a gentle circular motion.
Cautions
Not to be used during pregnancy and lactation. Do not exceed recommended dose. If irritation or redness occurs, discontinue use immediately.
Additional Information
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
