{"id":2913,"date":"2026-10-29T13:25:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/?p=2913"},"modified":"2026-10-29T13:25:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T13:25:23","slug":"how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Forage and Use Spikenard Root in the Appalachians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There is a patch of spikenard on the shaded bank above the spring house that my grandmother let me dig from only once every third year, and she kept the count in her head better than I keep it in my notebook. I thought it was a rule about the plant. It turned out to be a rule about the patch.<\/p>\n<p>I live up a creek hollow outside Marshall, in Madison County, North Carolina, and spikenard has grown in the rich, shady coves around my place for as long as anyone in my family can remember. Here is how I know it, how I dig it, and why I take so little.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"cmg-supplies\"><p class=\"cmg-supplies__title\">What you&#039;ll want on hand<\/p><div class=\"cmg-supplies__body\"><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0007WFG2I?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A hori-hori soil knife<\/a> \u2014 for loosening the soil around a root crown and cutting a section free without tearing the whole plant out<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B072V18F5L?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Grade-90 cheesecloth<\/a> \u2014 for straining a decoction clean and for draping drying root pieces<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B001DIZ1NO?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wide-mouth pint mason jars<\/a> \u2014 for storing dried root pieces in the dark<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/div><\/aside>\n<p>You&#8217;ll also want a brush for scrubbing the root, a sharp knife for slicing, and a notebook for the dates. I&#8217;ll leave those to your own kitchen drawer.<\/p>\n<h2>Know the plant first<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard-02-know.jpg\" alt=\"How to Forage and Use Spikenard Root in the Appalachians \u2014 know\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>American spikenard (<em>Aralia racemosa<\/em>) is a big, bushy perennial of rich woods, and it is easy to know once you have met it in summer. Say this part with me, once: never use any wild plant on the strength of one book, one app, or one article, this one included. Confirm it with more than one reputable guide and an experienced local forager, and when there&#8217;s any doubt, leave it where it stands.<\/p>\n<p>Spikenard is a plant that looks like a small shrub but dies back to the ground every winter. It sends up a smooth, reddish-green stem, often four to six feet tall, branching into several arms. The leaves are very large and divided into several heart-shaped leaflets with toothed edges. In July it carries ball-shaped clusters of tiny greenish-white flowers, and by late summer those have turned into dark purple-black berries.<\/p>\n<p>That is also where the trouble starts. Pokeweed (<em>Phytolacca americana<\/em>) grows in the same disturbed woods and fencerows, stands about the same height, has a reddish stem, and carries dark purple berries. Pokeweed is poisonous, and the root especially so. The two are not hard to separate with the plant in front of you. Pokeweed has simple, smooth-edged leaves, one per node, and its berries hang in a long, drooping cluster along a single stalk. Spikenard has compound, toothed leaves and berries in round clusters. If the leaf is not clearly compound and toothed, you are not holding spikenard, and you walk away.<\/p>\n<p>Wild sarsaparilla (<em>Aralia nudicaulis<\/em>) and Hercules&#8217; club (<em>Aralia spinosa<\/em>), which is spiny, are close relatives. They are not the plant I mean, and I would not dig either unless I were certain of what I was holding.<\/p>\n<p>I mark my spikenard in late summer, when the leaves and berries make it unmistakable, by tying a strip of cloth to a nearby sapling. Then I come back in the dormant season to dig.<\/p>\n<h2>Where and when<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard-03-where.jpg\" alt=\"How to Forage and Use Spikenard Root in the Appalachians \u2014 where\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Spikenard likes cool, shaded, rich ground: north-facing coves, the bottoms of hollows, and the edges of old seeps, usually below about 4,000 feet. It is not rare in my county, but it does not form dense stands, and in some states it is listed as uncommon or protected. Look up your state&#8217;s rules before you dig anything, and get permission on private land. Many national forests and parks ban or limit gathering, and a call to the ranger district is worth ten minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The root is a thick, aromatic rhizome, and the time to dig it is the dormant season. I wait until the tops have died back in late fall, usually after the first hard frost, and I can still find my cloth marker. That is another reason to mark plants in summer. By November the tops have collapsed and the patch is hard to find.<\/p>\n<h2>Dig little, and leave the patch whole<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard-04-dig.jpg\" alt=\"How to Forage and Use Spikenard Root in the Appalachians \u2014 dig\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>This is the part I care about most. Digging a root usually kills that plant, and spikenard is slow to rebuild. Here is the rule I follow.<\/p>\n<p>I only dig from a patch with plenty of mature plants, never from a lone one or a small group. I take no more than one plant in ten from any stand, and I count them first. With the hori-hori I loosen the soil around the root crown, lift the rhizome, cut off a portion, and set the crown with its buds back in the hole at the same depth. Then I press the soil back, scatter a few ripe berries over it if I have them, and cover it with leaf litter. A plant treated that way will often sprout in spring. I say often, because I have not seen it work every time, and I do not promise it will.<\/p>\n<p>If the patch is small, or you cannot tell what you are looking at, take nothing. I made this mistake when I was young, and I dug a whole stand. It took more than a decade to come back, and part of it never did. Dig less than you think you can.<\/p>\n<p>I use the same stewardship habits for other roots, and I wrote them down for a fall root in <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-forage-and-use-yellow-dock-root\">how to forage and use yellow dock root<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Cleaning and drying the root<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard-05-dry.jpg\" alt=\"How to Forage and Use Spikenard Root in the Appalachians \u2014 dry\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Brush the soil off with a stiff brush and rinse the root quickly in cold water. Do not soak it. Slice the thick root crosswise into coins about a quarter inch thick, or lengthwise into long strips for the thicker pieces. The root is fragrant and slightly sweet, with a spicy edge.<\/p>\n<p>Spread the slices in a single layer on a screen or a clean cloth in a warm, dry, shaded place with good air movement. Drape <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B072V18F5L?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cheesecloth<\/a> over the top to keep dust and flies off. In my drying shed this takes about two weeks. They are done when they snap clean instead of bending. Anything still leathery in the center will mold in the jar.<\/p>\n<p>Pack the dry root loosely in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B001DIZ1NO?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wide-mouth pint jar<\/a> and keep it in a cool, dark cupboard. I label the jar with the plant, the cove it came from, and the date. For more on drying roots in general, see <a href=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/how-to-clean-and-dry-medicinal-roots-after-the-dig\">how to clean and dry medicinal roots after the dig<\/a>. Properly dried root keeps a year or two.<\/p>\n<h2>How it has been used traditionally<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard-06-used.jpg\" alt=\"How to Forage and Use Spikenard Root in the Appalachians \u2014 used\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>I will tell you how spikenard root has traditionally been prepared, and I will be plain about what that means. This is folk and traditional-use information, how mountain families have handled it, not medical advice. Nothing here treats or cures anything. I do not give amounts or schedules, and I won&#8217;t. If you have a real health concern, see a qualified practitioner.<\/p>\n<p>Use of the Aralia genus by Cherokee people and by early settlers is recorded in the ethnobotanical literature, and I send you to Hamel and Chiltoskey&#8217;s <em>Cherokee Plants and Their Uses<\/em> for what the Cherokee themselves recorded rather than paraphrase it badly. The Cherokee knew these hills first, and I credit them.<\/p>\n<p>The traditional kitchen preparation is a simple decoction. A small handful of dried root goes into a pot, covered with water, brought to a low simmer, and held there, covered, for around twenty minutes. Cool it and strain it through cheesecloth. Old accounts also describe the root steeped in spirits or in vinegar. I cannot say whether it does anything for anyone, and I would not use it for a serious complaint. If you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medication, talk with someone who knows your situation before you use any herbal root regularly.<\/p>\n<h2>What I have gotten wrong<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard-07-wrong.jpg\" alt=\"How to Forage and Use Spikenard Root in the Appalachians \u2014 wrong\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Beyond the stand I dug too hard, I once dried a whole batch in a damp November and found it musty by January, because I sliced the pieces too thick and stacked them. Slice thin, spread it out, and let it get brittle. I also mislabeled a jar one year, and I now write the plant and the date on every single one.<\/p>\n<h2>Where the plant ends and the knowing begins<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/how-to-forage-and-use-spikenard-08-next.jpg\" alt=\"How to Forage and Use Spikenard Root in the Appalachians \u2014 next\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>The tools are the easy part. The slower work is learning your coves, telling spikenard from pokeweed at every time of year, and knowing when to leave a patch alone. I walk through it, plant by plant, in my book, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0H8X9J63Z?tag=almanachouse-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Appalachian Medicinal Plants<\/em><\/a>: how to identify each one without guessing, when to gather, and how to do it so the mountain still has it for whoever comes next.<\/p>\n<p>Mark it in summer. Dig it in the cold. Leave most of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Forage spikenard in the Appalachians: how to know the plant, tell it from pokeweed, dig a root without wiping out the patch, and dry and store it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-2913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foraging","tag-affiliate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2962,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2913\/revisions\/2962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/confluencemediagroup.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}