Cañaigre

Rumex hymenosepalus Torr

Canaigre

Tanner’s-dock

Wild Pieplant

Wild Rhubarb

Canaigre, the root of Rumex hymenosepalus Torr., has been marketed recently under such coined names of modern vintage as wild red American ginseng and wild red desert ginseng. The plant, a member of the family Polygonaceae native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico, actually bears no relationship either botanically or in its active principles to ginseng which belongs to an entirely different family, the Araliaceae.

Promotional literature on canaigre indicates that the medication was recommended in old herbals for a large number of maladies ranging from lack of vitality to leprosy. Unfortunately, the authors of such statements somehow fail to include references, and an inspection of herbal literature does not substantiate this claim. For example, J. M. Nickell’s comprehensive listing of some 2,500 botanical remedies in 1911 omits the plant entirely. King’s American Dispensatory (1900), a comprehensive eclectic compendium devoting 2,172 closely written pages to plant remedies, dedicates eight lines of fine print to canaigre, stating that because of its high tannin content, it was used for tanning and dyeing by the Indians. Not a single word therein notes any medicinal use. Voelcker, however, mentions in 1876 that the natives of Mexico used the root as an astringent. It is obvious that the attempt to promote canaigre as a kind of American ginseng is a recent-day deceptive practice, probably due to the high prices now commanded by ginseng.

Canaigre does not contain any of the active panaxoside-like saponin glycosides responsible for ginseng’s physiological activities. It does contain 18 to 25% or more of tannin and smaller amounts of anthraquinones, as well as other constituents such as starch and resin. Recognizing this attempt to substitute a relatively common, essentially worthless plant for a more valuable commodity, the Herb Trade Association adopted a policy statement in 1979 “that any herb products consisting in whole or part of Rumex hymenosepalus should not be labeled as containing “ginseng”. 

Nevertheless, canaigre’s synonym, red American ginseng, still exists in the herbal literature of the 1970s and  1980s and may cause the unsophisticated reader to confuse it with authentic red ginseng or even American ginseng. They are by no means similar. Canaigre may be a useful material for tanning leather and dyeing wool, but it has no place in therapeutics. Indeed, because of its high tannin content, the root may have considerable carcinogenic potential.

Rational people will avoid using it or any capsules or extracts prepared from it.

Herbalists have traditionally relied upon canaigre as an astringent. They used its large tuberous roots to make a tea for treating diarrhea and a gargle for easing sore throat. One herbal suggests using the boiled root extract to stop bleeding from minor scrapes and cuts. The Indians also have used the roots of canaigre, a native of the western United States, as a source of dye. The Navajos favor it especially for a yellow hue that they use in dyeing wool. Its stalks are an excellent substitute for rhubarb-a fact that explains the other common names, wild rhubarb and wild pieplant.

PARTS USED

Root.

USES

The use of canaigre root in folk medicine has been as an astringent, prepared as a tea for diarrhea and as a gargle for sore throat. These uses are probably effective, owing to the plant’s high tannin content.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Native to the western regions of the United States, canaigre is distributed from Wyoming and Utah south to Mexico and from Oklahoma and Texas west to California.