Spice substitute or snake oil?????

Asarum canadense (Canada Wild Ginger or Snakeroot) is a native perennial that grows very low to the ground. This flower just happened to be resting against a rock, otherwise they're difficult to photograph, without damaging the plant.

Although natives used the rhizome as a spice (has a scent and flavour similar to ginger), the interweb warns of a carcinogen. Good thing the interweb wasn't available several centuries ago...

The other common name comes from a distillate made from the powdered rhizome. Like all good snake oils it can be used to treat everything from the common cold to scarlet fever.