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AHPA publishes good stewardship harvesting brochure for black cohosh
August 19, 2025
The latest publication in AHPA's series of good stewardship harvesting brochures
The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has released a new brochure highlighting good stewardship harvesting practices for black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), a North American native herbaceous perennial in the Ranunculaceae family, widely traded for the medicinal properties of its roots. Produced as part of AHPA's ongoing educational efforts for the herbal community, the brochure is available for free download from the AHPA website.
“The AHPA good stewardship harvesting brochures are an essential resource for raw materials producers, who share them with the wildcrafters harvesting black cohosh to encourage more sustainable practices. Black cohosh has been in trade for a very long time, and demand for it continues to grow — so the more we can do to promote its sustainable harvest, the better,” said Edward Fletcher, Chair of the AHPA Botanical Raw Materials Committee.
AHPA Project Scientist Holly Chittum, M.S., led the brochure's development in collaboration with Dr. Jim Chamberlain of the U.S. Forest Service (retired), and with contributions from members of the AHPA Botanical Raw Materials Committee — including Edward Fletcher (Native Botanicals), Nate Brennan (Foster Farm Botanicals), Trish Flaster (Botanical Liaisons LLC), and Steven Yeager (Mountain Rose Herbs). Special thanks also to Dr. Eric Burkhart of Penn State for providing images.
AHPA has previously published good stewardship harvesting brochures for American ginseng, goldenseal, oshá, saw palmetto, and boswellia.
