The perennial plant known as cimicifuga racemosa, or black cohosh, belongs to the buttercup family. It grows in the eastern half of North American, and for centuries before the arrival of the white man was used by American Indians as an herbal tonic.
American Indians traditionally utilized black cohosh as a healing herb for maladies such as arthritis, malaria, sore throats, colds, constipation, hives, backaches, as well as to induce lactation in nursing mothers.
Modern scientists have validated many of these uses of black cohosh, both through observational studies as well as through controlled clinical trials. For example, Germany’s Commission E now endorses black cohosh for the treatment of a number of women’s health issues, ranging from Premenstrual Syndrome to dysmenorrhea to menopause symptoms such as hot flashes. It is this because of this last health issue, menopause, that black cohosh has found its greatest acceptance by millions of women world-wide.