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Zanthorhiza (Greek, yellow root). Often spelled Xanthorrhiza. Ranunculaceae. Shrubby plants cultivated mostly for their handsome foliage, which is much like that of Actaea, and which changes to a beautiful golden color in the autumn.

Leaves pinnate or bipinnate: fls. in drooping racemes or panicles; sepals 5, petal-like, deciduous; petals 5, smaller than the sepals, and 2-lobed; stamens 5-10; carpels 10, sessile, forming only 1-seeded follicles, 1 ovule of each usually not maturing.—One species, E. U. S. from N. Y. to Fla.

The plants will grow readily in any good soil but usually prefer damp and shady places, although they often thrive in loose sandy soil. Propagated both by seed and root-division in autumn or early spring. The seeds should be sown in a well-prepared seed-bed as the young seedlings are rather delicate. If sown in early autumn they may be given partial shade to advantage. Old plants when divided are easily grown, and for this reason root-division is often preferred. Often not hardy in Massachusetts and extreme northern states.
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