Habit: Perennial herb, +- glabrous to hairy; roots thick, clustered, licorice-scented.
Stem: branched, leafy.
Leaf: blade oblong to triangular-ovate, 2-pinnate or ternate-pinnate or 2--3-ternate, leaflets lanceolate to round.
Inflorescence: umbels compound; bracts 0; bractlets 0--several, conspicuous; rays, pedicels few, spreading-ascending to spreading.
Flower: calyx lobes 0; petals obovate, white, purple, or +- green-yellow (+- green-white), tips narrowed; disk occasionally present.
Fruit: linear to oblong, cylindric to club-shaped, +- compressed side-to-side, bristly to glabrous; base obtuse or long-tapered into tail, tip tapered into beak or obtuse; ribs thread-like; oil tubes obscure; fruit axis divided in distal 1/2.
Seed: face concave or grooved.
Species In Genus: +- 10 species: America, eastern and southern Asia.
Etymology: (Greek: sweet root)
Jepson eFlora Author: Lincoln Constance & Margriet Wetherwax
Reference: [Lowry & Jones 1985 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 71:1128--1171]
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Key to Osmorhiza
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