ABSTRACT
Probably the first published record of Sanguinaria was by Capt. John Smith in 1612, when he wrote that the Virginia Powhatan used it for dyes. Their red dye came from the “Pocones,” which “is a small roote that groweth in the mountaines, which being dryed and beate in powder turneth red: and this they use for swellings, aches, annointing their joints, painting their heads and garments.” Later people confused the origin of red dyes taken from Sanguinaria with Lachnanthes. Robert Beverley in 1705 wrote, “Smith talks of this Puccoon, as if it grew on the Mountains, whereas it is common to all the Plantations of the English” (Swanton 1946). Actually, Smith was writing about Sanguinaria while Beverley was describing Lachnanthes (which see).
