Herb to Know: Black Cohosh

By Betsy Strauch
Published on October 1, 1995
article image
Photograph by J. G. Strauch, Jr.

Cimicifuga racemosa
• (Sim-ih-SIFF-you-guh rass-eh-MOE-suh)
• Family Ranunculaceae
• Hardy perennial

The genus Cimicifuga comprises twelve species of erect her­baceous perennial plants that are native to north temperate regions. Black cohosh (C. racemosa), the species probably most familiar to herb gardeners, is a wildflower of moist or dry woods in eastern North America and is also cultivated as an ornamental.

Black cohosh produces clumps of strong stems 3 to 8 feet tall. Large, alternate green leaves are pinnately compound with toothed leaflets. Long, graceful wands of small, starry white flowers held above the foliage bloom from June through September. The flowers have no petals, and the greenish white sepals fall off soon after a flower opens, leaving a tuft of showy stamens surrounding a single pistil. The flowers are thought to be pollinated by green flesh flies.

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