Osmorhiza longistylis

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Osmorhiza longistylis
Light:Full Sun Part Shade
Moisture:Mesic
Hardiness:6
Soil pH:5.6-8.4
Self Pollinated
Height:4'
Blooms:Early Summer-Mid Summer
Open Woods Forest
Native to:
Edible Rating:PFAF Edibility RatingPFAF Edibility RatingPFAF Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating:PFAF Medicinal RatingPFAF Medicinal RatingPFAF Medicinal Rating
Tea:Yes
Poisonous

Osmorhiza longistylis (common name: aniseroot)

Propagation: Seed - we have no information on this species but suggest sowing the seed in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe if this is possible, otherwise sow it in early spring. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

Cultivation: Succeeds in any deep moisture-retentive soil in sun or dappled shade[1].

Plants are hardy to about -20°c[1].

Well suited to naturalistic plantings in a woodland or wild garden[1]. A sweetly aromatic plant[1].

Range: Eastern N. America - Nova Scotia to Ontario, Alabama, Tennessee, Kansas and Colorado.

Habitat: Rich, often alluvial woods and thickets[2]. Woods, often along the sides of streams in Texas[3].

Edibility: Root - raw or cooked. Very sweet, aromatic and fleshy[4]. A spicy flavour similar to anise, the roots are chewed, made into a tea or used as a flavouring[5][6][7].

Leaves and young shoots - raw. An anise flavour, they are added to salads[8][7].

The green seeds have an anise flavour and are used as a flavouring in salads, the dry seeds are added to cakes etc[7].

Medicinal: A poultice of the roots are used in the treatment of boils and wounds[9][4].

A tea made from the roots is stomachic[4]. It has been used in the treatment of stomach complaints, kidney problems, amenorrhoea, general debility, to ease childbirth and also to bathe sore eyes[4][10].

Pollinators: Insects

Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.

Flower Type: Hermaphrodite

Links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
  2. Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
  3. Diggs, George and Barney Lipscomb. Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. Botanical Research Institute, 1999.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Foster, Steven and Billy Tatum. Medicinal Plants of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
  5. Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
  6. Hill, Albert. Economic Botany. The Maple Press, 1952.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
  8. Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
  9. Coffey, Timothy. The History and Folklore of North American Wild Flowers. Facts on File, 1993.
  10. Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.