Smooth sweet cicely is an edible plant native to North America in the carrot family. The genus name osmorhiza comes from the Greek word osme which means "odour" and rhiza which means "root." The name claytonii is named in commemoration of John Clayton (1694-1773) who was an early plant collector in Virginia. Care should be taken when denitrifying smooth sweet cicely as it also have a slight resemblance to poison hemlock.

There are currently no commercial applications for smooth sweet cicely.

Within the realm of naturopathic medicine and folklore, the roots of the smooth sweet cicely plant were chewed or gargled as a treatment for sore throats. A poultice of the moistened pulverized roots has been applied to boils, cuts, sores as well as a tea made from the roots that has been used to bathe sore eyes. Proteins in the plant were also used for individuals to help in gaining weight.

Please note that MIROFOSS does not suggest in any way that plants should be used in place of proper medical and psychological care. This information is provided here as a reference only.

The roots and leaf stalks of the smooth sweet cicely plant can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The aromatic roots and unripe seeds are used as anise-like flavourings and the stalks are said to be pleasant to chew.

Smooth sweet cicely is a perennial plant which lives in moist wooded areas in partial shade. Smooth sweet cicely is suitable for light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. Smooth sweet cicely prefers to grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil but can survive along roadsides.

Soil Conditions
Soil Moisture
Sunlight
Notes:

Smooth sweet cicely is a perennial plant which can grow from 15cm to 90cm in height. The taproot of smooth sweet cicely is thick and hairy with a strong anise scent. The leaves are alternate pinnately compound with three to eleven leaflets varying from 1.5cm to 9cm long on each stem. Smooth sweet cicely boasts a clean white rounded cluster of flowers which blooms from mid May into July depending on location. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.The plant is self-fertile.

Plant Height	15cm to 90cm
Habitat	Roadsides, Forests, Clearings
Leaves	Odd Pinnate
Leaf Margin	Serrate
Leaf Venation	Pinnate
Stems	slender tall spiny stem
Flowering Season	May to July
Flower Type	Rounded clusters of ray less flowers
Flower Colour	White
Pollination	Insects
Flower Gender	Flowers are hermaphrodite and the plants are self-fertile
Fruit	hard black pods which open at maturity
USDA Zone	5A (-26°C to -28°C) cold weather limit

No known health risks have been associated with smooth sweet cicely. However ingestion of naturally occurring plants without proper identification is not recommended.

-Click here- or on the thumbnail image to see an artist rendering, from The United States Department of Agriculture, of smooth sweet cicely. (This image will open in a new browser tab)

Smooth sweet cicely can be referenced in certain current and historical texts under the following three names:

Clayton's Sweetroot

Sweet Jarvil

Woolly Sweet Cicely

Smooth sweet cicely can be translated into the following select languages:

Arabic	بقدونس إفرنجي الحلو	Bulgarian		Chinese (Sim)	甜西塞莉
Croatian	slatka Cicely	Czech		Danish
Dutch		Esperanto	dolĉa Cicely	Estonian	magus Cicely
Finnish		French	osmorhize	German	Süssdolde
Greek	γλυκό Σικελία	Hebrew	סיסלי ריחני	Hungarian	édes Cicely
Italian	Finocchiella	Japanese	甘いシシリー	Korean	달콤한 각종 미나리과 식물
Low Saxon		Lithuanian	saldus Cicely	Norwegian	søt Cicely
Persian		Polish	marchewnik anyżowy	Portuguese	cecília doce
Romanian	Cicely dulce	Russian	сладкий Сесили	Slovak
Spanish		Swedish	söt cicely	Tagalog	matamis cicely
Turkish		Ukrainian	солодкий Сесілі	Vietnamese	Cicely ngọt

The information provided in this conservation assessment has been provided by the Natureserve Database in conjuction with various federal, provincial, state, county, district, regional, and municipal governments as well as public and private conservation authorities. Information in this section is accurate from the last time this article was updated.
	Smooth sweet cicely is a secure species in North America.

The MIROFOSS database offers free printable garden tags for personal and non-profit use. These tags can be used to properly identify plant samples in a garden. Click on the tags shown on the the screen or -click here- to download a full size jpeg image for a smooth sweet cicely identification tag; which can be printed on paper or used with a plastic laser printer.

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Description	Radford, A. E., H. E. Ahles & C. R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas i–lxi, 1–1183. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill
Folklore	Stace, C.A. 2010. New flora of the British isles (Third ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521707725
Biology	Voss, E. G. 1985. Michigan Flora. Part II Dicots (Saururaceae-Cornaceae). Bulletin of the Cranbrook Institute of Science 59.
Biology	Gleason, H. A. 1968. The Choripetalous Dicotyledoneae. vol. 2. 655 pp. In H. A. Gleason: New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden, New York
Image Rendering	USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Environment	National Audubon Society. Field Guide To Wildflowers (Eastern Region): Alfred A. Knopf. pp 415-420 ISBN 0-375-40232-2
Physical Identification	National Audubon Society. Field Guide To Wildflowers (Eastern Region): Alfred A. Knopf. pp 415-420 ISBN 0-375-40232-2
August 01, 2015	The last time this page was updated
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