PARSLEY FAMILY UMBELLIFERAE 
SMOOTH SWEET CICELY. ANISE ROOT 
Osmorhiza longistylis (Torr.) DC. 
The Sweet Cicelys are perennial herbs and have 
clusters of thick edible roots which possess the fragrance 
and flavor of anise. One must be very sure of his identi- 
fication here since the roots 
Ren ob of some members of the 
Ni4 Parsley family are deadly 
~: K poisonous. 
\ “| There are two common 
Ss Sweet Cicelys, the Hairy, 
<a SSN ; F ° 
: \ \ Osmorhiza Claytoni (Michx.) 
\ Clarke, and the Smooth. They 
yy are very similar. Their dis- 
A\ GY tributions are not quite identi- 
ah Yy cal but they are likely to be 
4% =found in any woods from Nova 
oF Scotia to Alabama, west to 
South Dakota and Colorado, 
and in Illinois are usually 
intermingled. Chief differences 
\ between them are that the 
¢ = . stems of the Hairy Sweet 
— Cicely are much more hairy, 
Sc the leaves somewhat more 
AD deeply and finely divided, and 
the styles in fruit not more 
< 
than half as long as those of 
the smooth species. 
The Smooth Sweet Cicely 
grows 1-4 feet high and branches considerably. The stems are 
essentially without hairs except at the nodes. The lower leaves 
are long petioled and may be 1 foot wide, but the upper are much 
smaller. 
The white flowers are produced in May and June. There 
are no calyx teeth and the tips of the petals are turned back. 
The bristly fruits are a little more than one-half inch long at 
maturity, and the persistent styles are about one-tenth of an 
inch in length. 
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