Pages 11 & 12

North American Indigenous Medicinal Plants
For the benefit of the plant communities, wild animals, harvesters, farmers, consumers, manufacturers, retailers, and practitioners we offer this list of wild medicinal plants that we feel are currently most sensitive to the impact of human activities. Our intent is to assure the increasing abundance of the medicinal plants that are presently in decline due to expanding popularity and shrinking habitat and range. UpS is not asking for a moratorium on the use of these herbs. Rather, we are initiating programs designed to preserve these important wild medicinal plants.
We ask wildcrafters to consider the ecological impact of taking these herbs from the wild. Replanting in the wild, as well as careful stewarding of your collection areas is of tantamount importance if the trade of wildcrafting is to continue. Although the herb may be abundant in your locality, it has probably already disappeared from other areas. Wildcrafters are among those who have the best understanding of wild plants, and you can contribute greatly by providing seed and advising others on how to plant and grow these herbs.
We ask manufacturers and consumers to assist in the transition from wildcrafted sources to those that are organically grown. If there is demand for wild herbs, then we will continue to lose them. If there is demand for cultivated herbs, then we will create environmentally friendly jobs while saving the wild plants. Although it is an expensive proposition, the time is ripe to assure sustainability of the herbs we love.

At-Risk List
American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius)
Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa, syn. Cimicifuga racemosa)
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)
Echinacea (Echinacea spp.)
Eyebright (Euphrasia spp.)
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)
Helonias Root (False Unicorn) (Chamaelirium luteum)
Kava, Hawaiian Wild (Piper methysticum)
Lady’s Slipper Orchid (Cypripedium spp.)
Lomatium (Lomatium dissectum)
Osha (Ligusticum porteri, L. spp.)
Peyote (Lophophora williamsii)
Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra)
Sundew (Drosera spp.)
Trillium (Beth Root) (Trillium spp.)
True Unicorn (Aletris farinosa)
Venus’s-Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
Virginia Snakeroot (Aristolochia serpentaria)
Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa, D. spp.)

To-Watch List
Arnica (Arnica spp.)
Calamus Root (Acorus calamus)
Cascara Sagrada (Rhamnus purshiana)
Chaparro (Castela emoryi)
Elephant Tree (Bursera microphylla)
Gentian (Gentiana spp.)
Goldthread (Coptis spp.)
Lobelia (Lobelia spp.)
Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pendatum)
Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
Oregon Grape (Mahonia spp.)
Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens)
Pink Root (Spigelia marilandica)
Pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata)
Pleurisy Root (Butterfly Weed) (Asclepias tuberosa)
Spikenard (Aralia racemosa, A.californica)
Stillingia (Queen’s Delight) (Stillingia sylvatica)
Stoneroot (Collinsonia canadensis)
Stream Orchid (Epipactis gigantea)
Turkey Corn (Dicentra canadensis)
White Sage (Salvia apiana)
Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)
Yerba Mansa (Anemopsis californica)
Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californica)

Note: Read “spp.” as “all North American species in the genus.” We are using this category when:
(1) all North American members of the genus fit the “at risk” definition or
(2) there is reason to believe that either through inability to locate the commonly used species, or through misidentification, or through intentional collection, species besides the commonly used species in the genus might also be at risk. We see this situation clearly with the harvest of any trillium species to be sold as “bethroot,” or in the harvest of any echinacea species to be sold as “E. angustifolia.”