Damigeron's Dungeon: Prestigious Plants - Ranunculaceae 06

Plant Indices

Alphabetical Index (Genera)
Alphabetical Index (Vernacular)
Cladistic Index

GOLDTHREAD (Coptis)

Family: Ranunculaceae

Coptis occidentalis

Asia, East

Chinese: Huang Lian, Xuan Lian

Japanese: Mishinkouka, Ouren

Europe, Central

German: Goldfaden, Goldwurz, Weissbusch

Polish: Koptis

Europe, Northern

Danish: Skovstenbrak

Swedish: Tradguld

Europe, Western

English: Goldthread, Canker Root, Coptis

French: Souci D'eau

America, North: Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Labrador, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan), Greenland, United States (Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin)

Asia, East: China, Japan, Russia (Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Kuril Islands, Magadan, Primorye, Sakhalin, Yakutiya), Taiwan

Asia, South: India (Assam), East Himalaya, Myanmar

Asia, Southeast: Vietnam

Asia, Western: Tibet

Oceania: Aleutian Islands

Genus of flowering plants named for the bright yellow color of their winding rhizome.

We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.

Contains the bitter alkaloid berberine. Species of this genus are employed regularly in traditional Chinese, Indian, and Japanese medicine.

The name "goldthread" implies everything that could be done with thread, with the abstract solar qualities of gold. In conjunction with something that indicates the act of sewing, such as a needle or a stitchwort (genus Rabelera), to bind together two things at the level of abstraction. This would be good for imposing a magical sympathy, as in the Dungeons and Dragons spell shield other, where the caster and the target share the burden of injury.

Chinese Goldthread (Coptis chinensis)

Coptis chinensis

Asia, East

Chinese: Baimaogen, Duǎn è Huánglián, Gongeng, Huang Lian, Huanglian, Huang-Lien, Ma Huang Lian, Mao Huang Lian, Suan Huang Lian, Tian Huang Lian

Japanese: Mishinkouka, Ouren

Europe, Central

German: Chinesische Goldfadenwurzel, Chinesischer Goldfaden, Weissbuchel

Polish: Koptis Chinski

Europe, Southern

Italian: Filetti D'oro Cinesi

Latin: Rhizoma Coptidis

Spanish: Membrillo Silvestre

Europe, Western

English: Chinese Goldthread, Canker Root, Chinese Coptis

French: Coptide De Chine, Coptis Chinois, Coptis Racine

Asia, East: China (North-Central, South-Central, Southeast)

Asia, Southeast: Vietnam

A goldthread native to China.

We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.

Chinese herbology it is one of the 50 fundamental herbs. That tradition uses this plant to treat insomnia.

There is some evidence to suggest that it has legitimate anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and even anti-cancer properties and improves cardiovascular health.

Retained for name, distribution, and medicinal properties.

Japanese Goldthread (Coptis japonica)

Coptis japonica

Asia, East

Chinese: Huang Lian, Riben Huang Lian

Japanese: Eigenin, Gōringa, Miyama Ouren, Ouren, Seiyo-Ouren, Seryo-Oren

Korean: Weon-Hwang-Nyon

Europe, Central

German: Japanische Goldfadenwurzel, Japanischer Goldfaden

Polish: Koptis Japoński

Europe, Western

English: Japanese Goldthread, Japanese Coptis

Asia, East: Japan

A goldthread native to Japan and introduced to Korea.

We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.

Like other Coptis species, contains berberine. Likely has same medicinal properties as the other species.

Retained for name, distribution, and medicinal qualities.

Threeleaf Goldthread (Coptis trifolia)

Coptis trifolia

Europe, Central

German: Amerikanischer Goldfaden, Dreilappiges Goldfadenkraut, Gelber Goldfaden

Europe, Southern

Latin: Coptis Trifoliata

Europe, Western

English: Threeleaf Goldthread, Canker Root, Eastern Goldthread, Fernleaf Goldthread, Gold Thread, Goldthread, Mouthroot, Small Goldthread, Trifoliate Coptis, Yellow Root

French: Coptide À Trois Feuilles, Herbe D'or, Petit Thé Du Bois, Savoyane, Ticoute, Tréfle D'eau

America, North: Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Labrador, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Québec, Saskatchewan), Greenland, United States (Alaska, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin)

Asia, East: Japan

Asia, Northern: Russia (Kamchatka, Khabarovsk, Kuril Islands, Magadan, Primorye, Sakhalin, Yakutskiya)

A goldthread native to the subarctic coniferous or mixed forests of Asia and North America. Its stalks either bear a single flower or a single three-lobed evergreen leaf for which it gets its name.

It prefers moist environments with acidic soils, especially if the environment is dominated by eastern hemlock.

We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.

Contains alkaloids berberine and coptine. This plant has tested as an effective anti-bacterial against E.coli and Bacillus subtilis.

Native Americans, especially Albonquian-speaking peoples including the Iroquois, chewed the rhizome to relieve canker sores (hence the name "canker-root"). It has also been used to treat influenza, common cold, and as an eyewash in the form of a tea.

Retained for names, distribution, and medicinal properties.

Yunnan Goldthread (Coptis teeta)

Coptis teeta

Asia, East

Chinese: Huang Lian

Asia, South

Assamese: Mishmi Teetah, Mishmi Tita, Teetah, Tita

Hindi: Mamira

Europe, Western

English: Yunnan Goldthread, Chinese Goldthread, Mishmi Goldthread

Asia, Central: Tibet

Asia, East: China (South-Central)

Asia, South: India (Assam, East Himalaya)

Asia, Southeast: Myanmar, Vietnam

A goldthread endemic to a particular region of the Himalayas that is endangered due in part to both over-harvesting for medicine, deforestation, and natural biological bottlenecks including cytoplasmic male sterility.

Actively cultivated in Yunnan, in part to counteract the low rate of reproductive success in the wild.

We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.

It has anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties.

In traditional Indian medicine from Arunachal Pradesh, a tonic of these roots are employed against malaria and dyspepsia.

Until recently in Canada (as in the 1960s), a tea of Chinese goldthread was used as a direct-application treatment for thrush.