Plant · P-915

Osha

Ligusticum porteri

Osha grows a thick, aromatic root in high mountain meadows, long used across many southwestern tribes and Hispanic communities as a warming remedy for colds, bronchial infections and sore throat. It takes up to ten years in the wild to grow a root worth harvesting, which is why sustainable programs recommend digging no more than half of a stand once a decade. The one thing every forager needs to know before touching it: osha grows alongside poison hemlock and water hemlock and is easily confused with both, and the strong smell of the root is the surest way to tell it apart from its lethal relatives.