From the Botanical Angle
The botanical name of the herb is Caulophyllum thalictroides. It belongs to the family Berberidaceae. The part of the plant used for medicinal purposes if the root. Sometimes the seeds are roasted and boiled in water, and given as a decoction resembling coffee.
The plant is a perennial plant. The ideal growing conditions are low rich, moist, soil in swamps and near running streams. May and June see a panicle of small yellowish green flowers and one or two seeds about the size of a large pea in the plant, which ripens in August.
The root is hard thick, irregular, knotty, and contorted. The length can be 1 to several inches long. The colour index is externally yellowy brown, internally whitish to yellow. From the perspective of taste it is sweetish-bitter, then acid and pungent. The odour is slightly (pungent) fragrant.
