{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the poppy family Papaveraceae}} {{Redirect|Bloodroot|the video game|Bloodroots}} {{Distinguish|text=the grass genus ''Sanguinaria'', now divided between ''Digitaria'' and ''Paspalum''}} {{Speciesbox |image = Sanguinaria canadensis Arkansas.jpg |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 18 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Siekkinen, K., Reinier, J. E., Meredith, C.R., Williams, M., Piatt, L., Mikanik, A., Leopold, S., Gerrity, J., Dinh, D., Duncan, H., Kirchner, W., Metzman, H., Miller, A. & Preston, J. |date=2024 |title=''Sanguinaria canadensis'' |volume=2024 |article-number= e.T107292458A107292584 |access-date=12 August 2024}}</ref> |status2 = G5 |status2_system = TNC |status2_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.152149/Sanguinaria_canadensis|title=''Sanguinaria canadensis''|website=NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer|author=NatureServe|publisher=NatureServe|location=Arlington, Virginia|access-date=9 September 2023|date=1 September 2023}}</ref> |display_parents = 3 |genus = Sanguinaria |parent_authority = L. |species = canadensis |authority = L. }}
'''''Sanguinaria canadensis''''', '''bloodroot''',<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN |''Sanguinaria canadensis'' |33014 |accessdate=12 December 2017}}</ref> is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America.<ref name="drugs">{{cite web |title=Bloodroot |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/bloodroot.html |publisher=Drugs.com |access-date=1 June 2021 |date=22 March 2021}}</ref> It is the only species in the genus '''''Sanguinaria''''', included in the poppy family Papaveraceae, and is most closely related to ''Eomecon'' of eastern Asia.
''Sanguinaria canadensis'' is sometimes known as '''Canada puccoon''',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/16398/i-Sanguinaria-canadensis-i/Details |title=RHS Plantfinder - ''Sanguinaria canadensis'' |access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref> '''bloodwort''', '''redroot''', '''red puccoon''', and '''black paste'''.<ref name=drugs/> Plants are variable in leaf and flower shape, and have been separated as a different subspecies due to these variable shapes, indicating a highly variable species.
In bloodroot, the sap is red and poisonous.<ref name=drugs/><ref>{{cite web |title=Bloodroot Wildflowers |url=http://www.wildflowers-guide.com/32-bloodroot.html |website=Wild Flowers Guide |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821054107/http://www.wildflowers-guide.com/32-bloodroot.html |archive-date=2014-08-21}}</ref> Products made from sanguinaria extracts, such as black salve, are escharotic and can cause permanent disfiguring scarring.<ref name=drugs/> If applied to the skin, the extract sanguinarine may cause a massive scab of dead flesh where it killed the cells, called an ''eschar''.
Although there are laboratory studies indicating that sanguinaria may have potential in cancer therapy, clinical studies are lacking, and use is not recommended due to significant off-target toxicity.<ref name=drugs/>
==Description== Bloodroot grows from {{convert|20|to|50|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} tall. It has one large basal leaf, up to {{convert|25|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} across, with five to seven lobes.<ref name=fna>{{eFloras|1|220011939|Sanguinaria canadensis |family=Papaveraceae |first=Robert W. |last=Kiger}}</ref> The leaves and flowers sprout from a reddish rhizome with bright orange to red sap.{{r|fna}} The color of the sap is the reason for the genus name ''Sanguinaria'', from Latin {{wikt-lang|la|sanguinarius}} "bloody".{{r|fna}}<!-- FNA mentions sanguis "blood", the word from which sanguinaria comes. --> The rhizomes grow longer each year, and branch to form colonies.{{r|wihort}} Plants start to bloom before the foliage unfolds in early spring. After blooming, the leaves unfurl to their full size. Plants go dormant in mid to late summer, later than some other spring ephemerals.
The flowers bloom from March to May depending on the region and climate.{{r|mnwild}} They have 8–12 delicate white petals, many yellow stamens, and two sepals below the petals, which fall off after the flowers open. Each flower stem is clasped by a leaf as it emerges from the ground. The flowers open when they are in sunlight and close at night.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Sanguinaria canadensis - Plant Finder|url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=284854|access-date=2022-01-06|website=www.missouribotanicalgarden.org}}</ref> They are pollinated by small bees and flies. Seeds develop in green pods {{convert|4|to|6|cm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}} long, and ripen before the foliage goes dormant. The seeds are round and black to orange-red when ripe, and have white elaiosomes, which are eaten by ants.{{r|wihort}} The Latin specific epithet ''canadensis'' means of Canada''.''<ref name=":0" />
<gallery caption="Stages in the life of bloodroot"> File:Bloodroot-apr-2010-clasping-leaves.jpg|Leaves clasping the flower stems in early spring File:Bloodroot closeup.JPG|White petals and yellow stamens File:Sanguinariapod.jpg|Fruit (a pod holding the seeds) in early summer File:Sanguinaria.canadensis(02).jpg|Leaves after flowering File:Sanguinaire du Canada.jpg|A carpet of leaves in late spring File:(Root) wildflower.JPG|Rhizomes with orange flesh File:Sanguinaria canadensis 009.jpg|Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade Quebec, Canada </gallery>
==Distribution and habitat== Bloodroot is native to eastern North America from Nova Scotia to Florida, and west to the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi embayment.
''Sanguinaria canadensis'' grows in moist to dry woods and thickets, often on floodplains and near shores or streams on slopes. They grow less frequently in clearings and meadows or on dunes, and are rarely found in disturbed sites.
==Ecology== Bloodroot is one of many plants whose seeds are spread by ants, a process called myrmecochory. The seeds have a fleshy organ called an elaiosome that attracts ants. The ants take the seeds to their nest, where they eat the elaiosomes, and put the seeds in their nest debris, where they are protected until they germinate. They also benefit from growing in a medium made richer by the ant nest debris.
The flowers produce pollen, but no nectar. Various bees and flies visit the flowers looking in vain for nectar, for instance sweat bees in the genera ''Lasioglossum'' and ''Halictus'', cuckoo bees in the genus ''Nomada'', small carpenter bees (''Ceratina''), and bee flies in the genera ''Bombylius'' and ''Brachypalpus''.{{r|fotcr2017}} Some insects visit the flowers to collect pollen, including mining bees (''Andrena''), which are the most effective pollinators, and at least one beetle species, ''Asclera ruficollis''.{{r|fotcr2017}}<ref name="pollinators">{{cite book|title=Pollinators on Native Plants|author=Heather Holm|date=2014|publisher=Pollinator Press|location=Minnetonka, MN|pages=164–165}}</ref><ref name="illinois">{{Illinois Wildflowers |woodland|plants|bloodroot |Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)}}</ref>
The bitter and toxic leaves and rhizomes are not often eaten by mammalian herbivores.<ref name="illinois" />
==Cultivation== [[File:Double Sanguinaria.jpg|thumb|A double-flowered form]] ''Sanguinaria canadensis'' is cultivated as an ornamental plant. The double-flowered forms are prized by gardeners for their large showy white flowers, which are produced very early in the gardening season. Bloodroot flower petals are shed within a day or two of pollination, so the flower display is short-lived, but the double forms bloom much longer than the normal forms. The double flowers are made up of stamens that have been changed into petal-like parts, making pollination more difficult.{{r|wihort}}
The double-flowered cultivar ''S. canadensis'' f. ''multiplex'' 'Plena' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector – ''Sanguinaria canadensis'' f. ''multiplex'' 'Plena'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/66599/Sanguinaria-canadensis-f-multiplex-Plena-(d)/Details |access-date=23 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf |title=AGM Plants - Ornamental |date=July 2017 |page=94 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=28 October 2018}}</ref>
==Phytochemicals== Sanguinaria root is rich in isoquinoline alkaloids, mainly sanguinarine and chelerythrine.<ref name=drugs/> Sanguinarine is a benzophenanthridine alkaloid (see phenanthridine), which, unlike most other alkaloids, has a red color in aqueous solutions. It is present in the greatest concentration in the rhizomes, and the second greatest in the roots, with lesser amounts found in leaves and flowers.<ref name=drugs/> Related compounds in the plant are berberine and protopine, among other minor alkaloids.<ref name=drugs/>
==Toxicity== Bloodroot produces benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, primarily the toxin sanguinarine. The alkaloids are transported to and stored in the rhizome.
Sanguinarine kills animal cells by blocking the action of Na<sup>+</sup>/K<sup>+</sup>-ATPase transmembrane proteins. As a result, applying bloodroot to the skin may destroy tissue and lead to the formation of necrotic tissue, called an eschar. Bloodroot and its extracts are thus considered escharotic. Although applying escharotic agents (including bloodroot) to the skin is sometimes promoted as a pseudoscientific home treatment for skin cancer, these attempts can be severely disfiguring.<ref>{{Cite web |last=kreidler |first=Marc |date=2017-11-18 |title=Don't Use Corrosive Cancer Salves (Escharotics) {{!}} Quackwatch |url=https://quackwatch.org/related/cancer/eschar/ |access-date=2025-05-30 |language=en-US}}</ref> Salves, most notably black salve, derived from bloodroot do not remove tumors. Microscopic tumor deposits may remain after visible tumor tissue is burned away, and case reports have shown that in such instances tumor has recurred and/or metastasized.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1001/archderm.138.12.1593 |title=Consequences of Using Escharotic Agents as Primary Treatment for Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer |year=2002 |last1=McDaniel |first1=S. |journal=Archives of Dermatology |volume=138 |issue=12 |pages=1593–6 |pmid=12472348 |last2=Goldman |first2=GD|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Internal use is not recommended.<ref name=ncsu>{{Cite web |url=https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/bloodroot-sanguinaria-canadensis-l |title=Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis L.) |work= Horticulture Information Leaflets |publisher=NC State Extension Publications}}</ref> An overdose of bloodroot extract can cause vomiting and loss of consciousness.<ref name=ncsu/>
==Alkaloid biosynthesis== Comparing the biosynthesis of morphine and sanguinarine, the final intermediate in common is (''S'')-reticuline.<ref name=pmid15849302>{{cite journal |doi=10.1104/pp.105.059287 |title=Sanguinarine Biosynthesis is Associated with the Endoplasmic Reticulum in Cultured Opium Poppy Cells after Elicitor Treatment |year=2005 |last1=Alcantara |first1=Joenel |journal=Plant Physiology |volume=138 |pages=173–83 |pmid=15849302 |last2=Bird |first2=David A. |last3=Franceschi |first3=Vincent R.|last4=Facchini |first4=Peter J. |issue=1 |pmc=1104173 |jstor=4629815 |bibcode=2005PlanP.138..173A }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.genome.ad.jp/dbget-bin/show_pathway?map00950+1.5.3.12 |title=PATHWAY: Alkaloid biosynthesis I – Reference pathway |website=Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)}}</ref> A number of species in the Papaveraceae and Ranunculaceae, as well as plants in the genus ''Colchicum'' (family Colchicaceae) and genus ''Chondrodendron'' (family Menispermaceae), also produce such benzylisoquinoline alkaloids. Plant geneticists have identified and sequenced genes which encode the enzymes required for this production. One enzyme involved is N-methylcoclaurine 3'-monooxygenase,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.genome.ad.jp/dbget-bin/www_bget?enzyme+1.14.13.71 |title=ENZYME: 1.14.13.71 |website=Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)}}</ref> which produces (''S'')-3'-hydroxy-''N''-methylcoclaurine and mendococlaurine from (''S'')-''N''-methylcoclaurine.
==Uses==
===Traditional medicine=== Bloodroot was used historically by Native Americans for curative properties as an emetic, respiratory aid, and other treatments.<ref name=drugs/><ref>{{Cite web |title=BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database |url=http://naeb.brit.org/redirect/?referer= |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=naeb.brit.org}}</ref>
===Dietary supplement and warnings=== Bloodroot extracts have also been promoted by some dietary supplement companies as a treatment or cure for cancer,<ref name=drugs/> but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration listed some of these products among its "187 Fake Cancer 'Cures' Consumers Should Avoid".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/EnforcementActivitiesbyFDA/ucm171057.htm |title=187 Fake Cancer "Cures" Consumers Should Avoid |publisher=United States Food and Drug Administration |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710041221/https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/EnforcementActivitiesbyFDA/ucm171057.htm |access-date=2019-08-18|archive-date=2009-07-10 }}</ref> Oral use of products containing bloodroot are strongly associated with the development of oral leukoplakia,<ref name="Bouquot 2002">{{cite book|last=Bouquot|first=Brad W. Neville , Douglas D. Damm, Carl M. Allen, Jerry E.|title=Oral & maxillofacial pathology|year=2002|publisher=W.B. Saunders|location=Philadelphia|isbn=0-7216-9003-3|page=338|edition=2nd}}</ref> which is a premalignant lesion that may develop into oral cancer, although one review disputed this finding.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ic|first1=Munro|last2=Es|first2=Delzell|last3=Er|first3=Nestmann|last4=Bs|first4=Lynch|date=30 December 1999|title=Viadent Usage and Oral Leukoplakia: A Spurious Association|journal=Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology |volume=30|issue=3|pages=182–96|doi=10.1006/rtph.1999.1339|language=en|pmid=10620468}}</ref> Viadent, a dental product containing bloodroot, was withdrawn from the North American market due to concerns about its potential to cause cancer.<ref name=drugs/>
===Commercial uses=== Commercial uses of sanguinarine and bloodroot extract include dental hygiene products.<ref name=drugs/> Some animal food additives sold and distributed in Europe contain sanguinarine and chelerythrine.<ref name=drugs/>
===Plant dye=== Bloodroot is a red natural dye used by Native American artists, especially among southeastern rivercane basketmakers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northeast Oklahoma, USA {{!}} Society of Ethnobiology |url=https://ethnobiology.org/content/northeast-oklahoma-usa |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=ethnobiology.org}}</ref> A break in the surface of the plant, especially the roots, reveals a reddish sap which can be used as a dye.<ref name=drugs/>
==Research== Although limited laboratory research indicates potential for sanguinarine to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, there are no supportive clinical studies, and its use is discouraged due to adverse effects and potential toxicity.<ref name=drugs/>
==See also== * Orange-root
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=fotcr2017>{{cite book |last1=Wilhelm |first1=Gerould |author-link1=Gerould Wilhelm |last2=Rericha |first2=Laura |author-link2=Laura Rericha |date=2017 |title=Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis |publisher=Indiana Academy of Sciences}}</ref> <ref name=mnwild>{{cite web |title=''Sanguinaria canadensis'' (Bloodroot): Minnesota Wildflowers |url=https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/bloodroot |website=www.minnesotawildflowers.info |access-date=23 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref> <ref name=wihort>{{cite web |title=Bloodroot, ''Sanguinaria canadensis'' |url=https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/bloodroot-sanguinaria-canadensis/ |website=Wisconsin Horticulture}}</ref> }}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * Flora of North America: [http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=5418&flora_id=1 Distribution map] * {{Connecticut Plants|536 |link=1}} * [http://www.floridanature.org/species.asp?species=Sanguinaria_canadensis Floridanature.org: Bloodroot pictures and information]
{{Clear}} {{Dyeing}} {{Taxonbar|from1=Q14566105|from2=Q2724394}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Papaveroideae Category:Monotypic Papaveraceae genera Sanguinaria canadensis Category:Plant dyes Category:Garden plants of North America Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Category:Abortifacients