Protecting At-Risk Forest Botanicals

American Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) photo by Shannon E. Bell (CC BY 4.0). Ginseng is a globally vulnerable species.

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) photo by James Steakley (CC BY-SA 3.0). Goldenseal also has a vulnerable conservation status.

Ramps (Allium triccocum) photo by Nathan Martineau (CC BY 4.0). Ramps are endangered or threatened in several states.

Many forest botanicals grow very slowly, some taking 5 to 10 years to reach reproductive maturity. As a result, wild populations of these species are vulnerable to a variety of threats, including habitat destruction from resource extraction and development, the spread of exotic invasive species, and overharvesting.

What can you do to help protect forest botanicals?

• Advocate for the protection of forest habitat.

• Start growing forest botanicals in a shady spot near your home!

• Remove invasive species that spread into wooded areas, including garlic mustard, Japanese honeysuckle vine, multiflora rose, autumn olive, Asiatic bittersweet vine, Japanese barberry, Japanese stiltgrass, Japanese knotweed, tree of heaven, and kudzu. These non-native exotic plants grow aggressively and crowd out native species. Some (like garlic mustard) even release chemicals that kill nearby plants.

• Work with developers, logging and mining companies, and government agencies to organize plant rescue operations to relocate at-risk forest plants that will be destroyed.

• Keep deer populations under control.

• Find substitutes for at-risk medicinal plants you use.

• If you do harvest from the wild, do it sustainably by:

  • Planting seeds you find and covering them with leaf litter.

  • Harvesting on a scale that will not lead to population declines over time.
    

  • Harvesting only the leaves when possible.       

  • For plants that spread through root division, replanting a portion of each plant you harvest.

Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa) photo by 'BlueRidgeKitties' (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) photo by Shannon E. Bell (CC BY 4.0).

The United Plant Savers has designated the status of many Appalachian woodland medicinal plants and forest foods as “critical” or “at-risk.”

Visit https://unitedplantsavers.org/species-at-risk-list/ to view the entire list.