Xanthorhiza simplicissima Marshall

Yellowroot; Brook Feather

Shrub

Perennial

Vascular

Yellowroot is a native deciduous shrub in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It can be found throughout most of Alabama. Yellowroot occurs on stream banks and in low woods. It is a colonial low shrub from long slender rhizomes. The stems are erect, 1-2 feet in height, and usually unbranched. The outer bark is smooth and gray in color and the inner bark is bright yellow. The leaves are clustered near the ends of the stems. Leaves are petiolate, alternate, and 1-2-pinnately compound. Leaflets are sessile to short petiolate, ovate to rhombic in outline, with incised or serrate margins. The leaves turn bright yellow before falling in the autumn. Flowers are produced in axillary panicles. The radially symmetrical flowers have 5 purple-brown or greenish-yellow sepals, 5 purple-brown or yellowish petals, and 5 or 10 stamens. The fruit is a curved follicle. Yellowroot has been used by Native Americans and in folk medicine to treat stomach ulcers, colds, fever blisters, sore throat, and as a tonic and mouth wash. Dried rhizomes or jars of “yellowroot tea” are often available at farmers markets, rural grocery stores, and flea markets. An extract of the inner bark of the rhizomes is used to produce a bright yellow dye. Yellowroot is sometimes available from native plant nurseries. It can be used as a ground cover in low wet areas. Propagation is through division or cuttings taken from stems and rhizomes in mid-summer. It prefers a moist organic soil in full to partial shade.—A. Diamond.

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Native FACW- (NWPL)

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