''Coptis trifolia'', commonly known as the threeleaf goldthread or savoyane, is a perennial plant in the genus ''

Coptis ''Coptis'' (goldthread or canker root) is a genus of between 10 and 15 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Asia and North America. Species Uses ''Coptis teeta'' is used as a medicinal herb in China and the East ...

'', a member of the family

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (, buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family (biology), family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 spec ...

Distribution

It is native to North America and Asia across the

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

region. Its range is divided into three broad groups. The first is from southern Greenland and Labrador that extends to Manitoba to the west and to the mountains of North Carolina to the south. The second is in Alaska and adjacent areas of British Columbia, extending towards eastern Siberia and into Japan and Manchuria. Records from Norway and central Russia are most likely based on confusion. The disrupted and wide range of the species suggests that the three populations have been isolated from each other for significant periods of time. Goldthread seems to prefer coniferous or mixed canopies dominated by

Eastern hemlock ''Tsuga canadensis'', also known as eastern hemlock, eastern hemlock-spruce, or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as ''pruche du Canada'', is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It is the state tree of ...

, but it has also been found in deciduous canopies in moist, acidic soils.

Description

Goldthread has at least one small, deeply three-lobed, evergreen leaf rising from the ground. It has between four and seven white, petaloid sepals, though no true petals. It has between four and seven clavate and numerous

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

. It is usually between five and fifteen centimeters tall, with each stalk having a single flower or three leaflets. Its fruits contain a number of small seeds. The name goldthread is derived from the plant's bright yellow

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

Medicinal uses

The rhizome of the plant was chewed by Native Americans, including Algonquian-speaking peoples and the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

, to relieve canker sores, and is the source of another common name, ''canker-root''. It has also been used to make a tea that is used as an eyewash. Like the medicinal plant

goldenseal Goldenseal (''Hydrastis canadensis''), also called orangeroot or yellow puccoon, is a perennial herb in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to North America. It may be distinguished by its thick, yellow knotted rootstock. The stem is pur ...

, goldthread is used to treat symptoms of influenza and the common cold. ''Coptis trifolia'' has been shown to be

biologically active In pharmacology, biological activity or pharmacological activity describes the beneficial or adverse effects of a drug on living matter. When a drug is a complex chemical mixture, this activity is exerted by the substance's active ingredient or p ...

against ''

E.coli ''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus ''Escherichia'' that is commonly foun ...

'' and ''

Bacillus subtilis ''Bacillus subtilis'' (), known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, humans and marine sponges. As a member of the genus ''Bacill ...

''. The active compounds of ''Coptis trifolia'' are the alkaloids

berberine Berberine is a Quaternary ammonium cation, quaternary ammonium salt from the protoberberine group of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, occurring naturally as a secondary metabolite in some plants including species of ''Berberis'', from which its name ...

and coptine.

Ecology

In 1963, a species of fungus in the genus Lambertella, '' Lambertella copticola'', was discovered growing on the dead leaves of a ''Coptis trifolia''. Species of the fungal genus '' Gloeosporium'' can infect ''Coptis trifolia,'' as well as other species of ''Coptis'', and reduce normal plant function. The slug ''

Arion fasciatus ''Arion fasciatus'', also known by its common name the Orange-banded Arion, is a species of air-breathing, completely shell-less, land slug, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Arionidae, the round-back slugs. The species was ...

'' also feeds on goldthread. Other external threats to ''Coptis trifolia'' include logging, fire, agricultural development, and human recreation.

Gallery

File:Coptis groenlandica.jpg File:Coptis groenlandica2.jpg File:Coptis_trifolia_1407.JPG, Blossom File:Coptis trifolia 1785.JPG, Foliage and seed pods

References

External links

rook.org

Image - Flavon's art gallery
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
trifolia {{Ranunculaceae-stub