''Osmorhiza claytonii'' is a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

herb, native to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the eastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is also known as Clayton's sweetroot, sweet cicely, or woolly sweet cicely a name it shares with other members of its genus '' Osmorhiza''.

Description

''Osmorhiza claytonii'' is a herbaceous

tall and pubescent. Leaves are large, compound, deeply divided, and dentate. Flowers are small , white, and clustered with others on a long-stalked

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

. Its native habitats include rich woods and wooded slopes. The leaves are yellowish green. There are white hairs on the stem and to a lesser extent on the leaves as well. It is ternately branched, having three-leafed branches. When broken it has an

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and ta ...

like smell or flavor. The

seeds A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosperm pl ...

of this plant have barbs on the end allowing them to stick to clothing, fur, or feathers.

Ecology

Small to medium-sized bees, wasps, flies, and beetles feed on the nectar and pollen of the flowers. The caterpillars of the butterfly

Papilio polyxenes ''Papilio polyxenes'', the (eastern) black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma and New Jersey. An extremely similar-appearing spec ...

(Black Swallowtail) feed on the foliage.

Similar species

''O. claytonii'' is very similar in appearance to '' Osmorhiza longistylis'' (long-styled sweet-cicely) with a similar geographic range. The roots of ''O. longistylis'' have a stronger anise smell than those of ''O. claytonii'', and the styles of the flowers protrude beyond the petals, while the styles of ''O. claytonii'' are shorter than the petals.

References

claytonii Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Flora of the North-Central United States Plants described in 1803 {{Apiaceae-stub