Woolly Sweet-Cicely, Clayton's sweetroot
Osmorhiza claytonii
Family: Apiaceae or Umbelliferae
What it is like
Osmorhiza claytonii is a PERENNIAL growing to 1 m (3ft 3in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 6. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 1
Where it is found
Woods and wooded slopes.
Eastern N. America - Nova Scotia to South Dakota, North Carolina, Illinois, Nebraska and Kansas.
Conservation Status:
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 3
Root - cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Used for putting on weight. Leaf stalks - cooked and used as a vegetable. The aromatic roots and unripe seeds are used as anise-like flavourings. Pleasant to chew.
Root: includes bulbs, corms, tubers, rhizomes etc.
Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.
Condiment: the various plants that are used as flavourings, either as herbs, spices or condiments.
Medicine
Rating: 1
The root has been chewed or gargled as a treatment for sore throats. A poultice of the moistened pulverized roots has been applied to boils, cuts, sores etc whilst a tea made from the roots has been used to bathe sore eyes.
Ophthalmic: Treats eye complaints.
Poultice: A moist, usually warm or hot, mass of plant material applied to the skin in the treatment of burns etc.
Other
Rating: 1
Scented.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
Scented Plants: Plants noted for their scent
How it is grown
Succeeds in any deep moisture-retentive soil in sun or dappled shade. Plants are hardy to about -20°c. Well suited to naturalistic plantings in a woodland or wild garden. A sweetly aromatic plant. For polyculture design as well as the above-ground architecture (form - tree, shrub etc. and size shown above) information on the habit and root pattern is also useful and given here if available. The plant growth habit is a clumper with limited spread. The root pattern is fibrous dividing into a large number of fine roots. The root pattern is fleshy. Thick or swollen - fibrous or tap root.
Propagating it: 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.
Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; Cultivated Beds;
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness: 5-9
Growth:
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: Semi-shade, no shade
Moisture: Moist