A second type of salve that is also black in color, and often called black salve, is bloodroot salve.
Both medicinal and flowering plants are exceptionally abundant; a few of the former are ginseng, snakeroot, bloodroot, hore-hound, thoroughwort, redroot (Ceanothus Americanus), horse mint and wild flax, and prominent among the latter are jessamines, azaleas, lilies, roses, violets, honey-suckle and golden-rod.
Made with the herb bloodroot or Sanguinaria canadensis, bloodroot salve was the only treatment available for skin cancer prior to the 20th century.
Bloodroot salve is considered escharotic, which means that it causes tissues to die or burn off.
Bloodroot is only approved by the FDA for use in small quantities in certain beauty products.