Sweet-anise, also known as western aniseroot or sweet cicely, is a stout, 

 erect, and smooth perennial herb of the parsnip or umbellifer family (Pasti- 

 naceae, or Umbelliferae). It is by far the most important range plant of 

 the sweetroot (Osmorhisa) genus. The appearance and flavor of the seeds are 

 strikingly suggestive of the related anise (Pimpin-ella anisum). 



Sweet-anise occurs from Alberta to Colorado, California, and British Colum- 

 bia. It apparently does not occur in the Southwest but is fairly common 

 elsewhere in the range country. It grows in the mountains from altitudes of 

 approximately 2,000 feot in Washington up to about 9,000 or 10,000 feet in 

 Utah and Colorado, preferring rich, well-drained soils in aspen stands, open- 

 ings in ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forests, or open or brushy slopes and 

 ridges. This plant is usually associated with grasses and various perennial, 

 broadleaved herbs. It rarely occurs in pure stands but is often an important 

 part of the plant cover, being the key species on many ranges, particularly in 

 the Intermountain region and the central and northern Rocky Mountains'. 



Sweet-anise is one of the choice range weeds. Its palatability is usually 

 high for all classes of livestock. All of the plant occurring above the ground, 

 except the coarser stems, is often eaten by sheep even when an abundance of 

 other good forage is available. Cattle, horses, deer, and elk also eat the 

 leafage with considerable relish. The plant remains green and palatable 

 throughout the summer grazing season, except on the more dry and exposed 

 sites, but becomes dry and worthless after the first heavy frost in the fall. 

 Reproduction is entirely from seed although the species does not have 

 strong seed habits. Only a relatively few seeds are borne in each flower 

 cluster, but their viability is rather high. Deepset, thickened woody roots, 

 with stored-up food reserves, enable this plant to withstand trampling well 

 and, if given an opportunity to mature seed, it will ordinarily maintain itself 

 or even increase on the range. 



SWEETROOTS (Osmorhi'za spp., syns. Glyco'sma spp., Washingto'nia spp.) 



The English name most commonly used for plants of this genus is probably 

 sweet cicely, although that name is better restricted to the Old World umbellifer 

 genus, Myrrhis. Sweetroot is suggested as appropriate and more distinctive 

 for the genus Osmorhisa, whose name means fragrant root. Several of the 

 smoothseeded species are segregated by some botanists into a separate genus, 

 Glycosma, but the division is not recognized by Coulter and Rose. 



On a conservative basis about eleven species of Osmorhiza, which is an ex- 

 clusively North American genus, are known in the western range country. As 

 a group they are widely distributed, at least one species occurring in each of 

 the eleven far Western States. They occur in the mountains, in open wood- 

 lands, moist meadows, and in rich, coniferous woods. Some species grow to 

 quite an extent in canyon bottoms ; others on well-drained, sandy loam soils in 

 aspen and brush stands. 



Although all of the sweetroots are at least fairly palatable to livestock yet. 

 because of their restricted occurrence and abundance, most of them do not 

 generally constitute an important element of the range forage crop. Usually 

 sheep and goats graze them closely while cattle eat most of the species more 

 readily than they do the majority of other weeds. The plants ordinarily re- 

 main green and palatable throughout the summer grazing season. They 

 depend wholly on seed for reproduction. 



Some botanists adopt the generic name Washingtonia for these plants and 

 that name has technical (line) priority under the American Code. There is 

 a growing tendency, however, to use Washingtonia for the California palm 

 genus and accept Osmorhisa for the sweetroots. 



After the sweetroots have set seed, they are easily distinguished from the 

 other range plants of the umbellifer family. The seeds are distinctively long, 

 narrow-ribbed, somewhat club-shaped (clavate), and are often bristly and 

 tipped with a short beak. These herbs have a characteristic, aromatic, licorice- 

 like or aniselike odor and taste, especially in the deepset, thickened, often 

 clustered roots. The small flowers are five-parted, but the teeth of the outer 

 flower parts (calyx) are indistinct. They are usually whitish or yellowish, 

 though occasionally purple in some species, and are borne at the ends of the 

 stems in loosely and openly grouped, umbrella-shaped clusters. 



