''Osmorhiza occidentalis'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Apiaceae Apiaceae or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering plants ...

known by the common name western sweet cicelyGreat Basin Wildflowers, Laird R. Blackwell, 2006, Morris Book Publishing LLC., or western sweetroot. It is native to western North America, including the

Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It grows in moist wooded and forested areas, most commonly in

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

forests between .

Description

''Osmorhiza occidentalis'' is an erect perennial herb up sometimes exceeding tall. The green leaves have blades up to 20 centimeters long which are divided into toothed and irregularly cut leaflets. The blade is borne on a long petiole. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a compound

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 ...

of many tiny yellowish flowers at the tip of a stemlike peduncle. The fruit is elongated and narrow, up to 2.2 centimeters long.

Uses

Many Native American groups used this plant for a great variety of medicinal purposes.Ethnobotany
/ref>

References

External links

* *
Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Osmorhiza occidentalis''USDA Plants Profile for ''Osmorhiza occidentalis''''Osmorhiza occidentalis'' U.C. Photo gallery
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7107222 occidentalis Flora of Western Canada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of California Flora without expected TNC conservation status