Where Have All the Flowers Gone? - herbal supplements threaten some herb species

Vegetarian Times, Sept, 1999 by Norine Dworkin

ND: Are any herbs already extinct?

TB: Silphion, a Mediterranean birth control plant, was picked to. extinction 1,600 years ago. Goldthread, which was used to fight infections, was overharvested in the 1800s, and it never fully recovered. Ironically, it was replaced with goldenseal, which is now in a similar situation.

False unicorn root, a hormone regulator for menstrual irregularities, menopause symptoms and infertility, is rare in most of its range and is only harvested in the far South. This herb is one of the most expensive on the market. It all comes from wildcrafted sources. It's extremely difficult to cultivate because it's slow growing, hard to propagate and the roots for planting are very expensive. We may not be able to cultivate it for a price that consumers are willing to pay.

ND: Are cultivated herbs as good as those found in the wild?

TB: Cultivated herbs are usually better. They often have a higher concentration of the active ingredient you're looking for. We've created feverfew, chamomile and St. John's wort plants that have higher constituent makeups than those grown in the wild.

ND: Which herbs are most at risk?

TB: Native American plants that are harvested for their roots, like goldenseal and black cohosh. We're not concerned with plants that have been introduced to this country, and plants picked for their leaves are less likely to be harvested to the point where the plants are killed. But root plants are different. When you dig up the root, you generally kill the plant.

ND: The Center was started around efforts to cultivate goldenseal, correct?

TB: That's right. The Goldenseal Project is the first serious effort to preserve an overharvested herb.

Goldenseal is the poster herb for cultivation, the one herb that's been cultivated on a relatively large scale. Frontier Natural Products Co-op took its profits from wildcrafted goldenseal and used it to buy the property for the National Center, secure a cultivated supply of goldenseal and educate the public about its misuse in drug tests. We also educate the growers. The Center does free site assessments of growers' lands. We give them information on where to buy materials, how to cultivate the herbs and how to market them. Right now, quite a few growers are cultivating goldenseal. Within three years of starting the Goldenseal Project, all of the goldenseal sold by Frontier is cultivated and certified organic. Frontier also sells cultivated certified organic ginseng and echinacea. But this is not just a Frontier project--it's an industry-wide project. We work with growers to supply other companies with these critical-to-cultivate herbs.

ND: Do you believe NCPMH's efforts will help?

TB: While maybe 5 percent of goldenseal is cultivated at this point, we can make a significant dent in the market--about 25 percent--in about five years. Within about 10 to 15 years, we can probably meet 80 percent of the world's needs.

ND: How many other herbs on your endangered list are cultivated?

TB: All the herbs on the list are still wildcrafted; none is available in large amounts from cultivated sources, except American ginseng. There are tiny amounts of a few from experimental plots but not enough to meet any company's needs. But the Center is researching all of the herbs on the list, and the goal is to eventually cultivate every one.