TOPIC: Expanding False Unicorn and other plants

Over the last 12 or so years i have really focused my planting efforts on wild-simulated ginseng, this year i did not plant any new ginseng and over the last couple of years i have been re-establishing other plants on my property. it seems that i had pockets of bloodroot in some areas and pockets of goldenseal in some areas. After researching these plants and the methods described for transplanting,dividing roots ect...i first tried replanting bloodroot by cutting up the roots and replanting, that is a simple method and works very well for bloodroot. As for the goldenseal I only dug up mature plants and transplanted them and that method also worked very good. i am curious to see how the goldenseal reseeds itself. At first i thought that the reason these plants were growing in isolated pockets was due to enviromental (soil..light) conditions,but i am now believing that generations of harvesting were the reason for the isolation. The plants seem to grow well anywhere as long as the general requirements are met, moist well drained soil. My next plant of intrest is false-unicorn, or star-root. I have some of this on my property and it also is in isolated pockets, I know this because when i was a kid i probably dug 100lbs of this stuff before it started declining, The only areas it is growing on my property now is not ideal locations, and i have observed that it is not really reproducing or growing to much extent. star-root will generally bring a better price than goldenseal so today i moved about 50 plants to another area (test bed)that i think will make it produce better, my goal is to monitor it and maybe try to collect some seed from it and try to get it re-established to harvestable levels again. If this works i will most likely transfer more of my false-unicorn to (ideal locations)I have also taken a couple and cut the roots to see how easy it to grow that way, I am taking photos of my efforts and will document my observations. I am more interested in populating/cultivating false-unicorn to maybe one day supplying seed/rootlets. Moving these plants to other areas on my property is doing wonders for my populations so far. I just wanted to share that to anyone who may be wondering what to do about their plant populations on their property and if they have noticed similar situations.

K_duce

In Wisconsin where I have some 6 and 7 yr old seng growing, there is an isolated patch of Goldenseal growing. I would guess that there are about 6-10 thousand plants. A lot of old mature plants. But over 240 acres of land surrounding that patch, I have not found any other goldenseal growing.

I think that you may be right, in that it has been harvested to extinction in the surrounding areas.

Odd, that there is one huge patch of goldenseal growing all by itself.

Also, there is more wild seng growing close to this patch than the surrounding areas

classicfur

here is a photo taken last spring of false unicorrn starting to bloom.

Just a note, the price for false unicorn is now up to about $50 per pound for very clean dry roots with no mold.

Can anyone here post a photo of what false unicorn looks like in the woods this time of year? Is the flower stem lying flat, gone or still standing but bare?

Brad, if you get any fresh false unicorn that would be suitable for transplanting I would sure like to buy a small amount to get a patch started here. We dont have any around my area.

That picture posted by K_duce is one of the better one's I've seen. But it does look like that is a little earlier in the year.

Lenno, I'm trying to find sources for all that stuff. I too would like to have a patch of most of the herbs growing from which I could offer seeds or starts.

I can post some more pictures later this week, just imagine the picture above with the bottom 4 or 5 leaves laying flat on the ground, everything else is gone at this point, no stem or flowers just the bottom leaves, some of the leaves tend to die off and yellow somewhat, the plant is like an evergreen it lives all winter long, the problem is that later in the fall most of the time the plant gets covered up by fall leaves. This plant seems to be more strange than ginseng as far as seed production and flowering, to my understanding it can be either male or female depending on the year or conditions. the seeds are probably 3 times smaller than goldenseal seed. I tried to collect some seed this year but i was too late everything bloomed to early.

Thank you very much K_Duce. That's about what I've been keeping an eye out for. Thought there might also be a dead brown stem from the flower spike. Wasn't aware it lived thru winter either. That is very helpful. If you get a chance I would love to see a photo of a fresh root. I've looked through a lot of google images but couldn't find a photo of a fall plant or a good single root.

If I find some around here I'll gladly send you a few fresh roots for your help.

This pic was taken in october of 2011.