#longstyle sweetroot

From top: new spring greens erupt from the margins of a mountain stream; smooth Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum); Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) and uncoiling fiddleheads; great white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum); slender toothwort (Cardamine angustata); azure bluet (Houstonia caerulea); rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides); and longstyle sweetroot (Osmorhiza longistylis), also known as aniseroot and wild licorice.

Osmorhiza longistylus / Aniseroot at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

From top: black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis), an aggressive colonizer with delicious fruit coveted by humans and animals alike; longstyle sweetroot (Osmorhiza longistylis), also known as anise root, because its roots have a licorice-like flavor; Indian cucumber (Medeola virginiana), easily identified by its two tiers of whorled leaves and odd, pendulous flowers; and speckled wood lily (Clintonia umbellulata), also known as white Clintonia or black-bead lily, a close relative of yellow Clintonia (Clintonia borealis), which tends to occur at higher elevations in Central Appalachia.

I had originally planned to take a trip to Ohiopyle today, but the rainy forecast kept me closer to home. I opted for a loop hike of about 8 miles on several of the interconnected trails at Coopers Rock State Forest and totally lost track of time. The leaves and moss were so brilliantly green from the recent rains - everything was dripping with moisture, including me, and I loved every minute of it. Recent hikes on the Mon Chateau Trail have convinced me that heartleaf foamflower is the most relentlessly beautiful wildflower of Appalachia’s spring, the way it insinuates its velvety foliage and delicate flower spikes into every verdant mossy nook. And there was so much more to discover - pink lady’s slippers, longstyle sweetroot with its licorice-scented leaves, wild yam, and jack-in-the-pulpit. And then there was the magical descent into a sylvan glen where Quarry Run reminded me that no time spent in nature is wasted time. 

Longstyle sweetroot (Osmorhiza longistylis), also known as aniseroot. sweet anise, and long-styled sweet cicely, is one of my favorite finds in Appalachia’s shady, spring woods. The crushed leaves and roots of this plant have the odor and flavor of licorice. Old timers made a potent tea of the plant’s roots, which can also be chewed raw or made into a flavoring; an extract from longstyle sweetroot can be used as a flavoring substitute for licorice. This graceful perennial produces delicate white flowers arranged in compound umbels on a tall flowering stalk. The fern-like foliage is divided into three compound leaves, which are further subdivided into three, coarsely-toothed leaflets. Longstyle sweetroot is a “bellwether” plant; it requires high quality habitat in which to grow and thrive, and its disappearance from the forest indicates an ecosystem in decline. The photos above were taken in Coopers Rock State Forest.

5/4/25