Osha root vs rat root comes up because both roots have long Indigenous histories and both get chewed in the old stories. They are unrelated plants. Osha (Ligusticum porteri) is a mountain root from the carrot family that grows at 1,500 to 3,500 m. Rat root (Acorus americanus, and its Old World cousin Acorus calamus) is a wetland plant that grows with its feet in water at the edges of ponds and marshes.
Osha root vs rat root, side by side
- Latin name: Ligusticum porteri (osha) and Acorus americanus or Acorus calamus (rat root)
- Family: Apiaceae, the carrot and parsley family (osha); Acoraceae, the sweet flag family (rat root)
- Where it grows: high mountain slopes in deep, moist soil (osha); shallow water in marshes, ditches and lake edges (rat root)
- Other names: bear root, chuchupate, wasía (osha); sweet flag, calamus, muskrat root, wihkes (rat root)
- Smell: spicy celery and butterscotch (osha root); citrus or tangerine-like leaves and a bitter, aromatic rhizome (rat root)
Two plant families with nothing in common
Osha belongs to Apiaceae, the family that gives us carrot, celery, parsley and lovage. Its umbrella-shaped white flowers look like poison hemlock, so non-experts should never dig it.
Rat root sits in Acoraceae, a family with a single genus, Acorus. It looks like a cattail or an iris: flat, sword-shaped leaves 2 to 6 feet tall, rising from a thick creeping rhizome that forms mats in the mud. A University of Alberta species profile describes North American plants as mostly diploid and fertile, European plants as triploid and sterile, and Asian plants as tetraploid. Many botanists now list the North American diploid as its own species, Acorus americanus. Per Minnesota Wildflowers, A. calamus leaves have one raised vein and A. americanus leaves have several.
Osha stopped more than half the growth of the TB bacterium at the lowest concentration tested.
Where each one grows
Osha grows in the upper subalpine zone, in deep organic soil and part shade. Attempts to farm it outside its home mountains have failed, so almost all supply is wild-harvested, often from plants more than 10 years old. United Plant Savers lists it as At-Risk. Its range runs through high mountains from Northern Mexico north into the Rockies, and Mara's Bear Root comes from the mountains of Northern Mexico.
Rat root grows wherever there is quiet fresh water and sun. The USDA plant guide lists sweet flag from Nova Scotia and Quebec across to Alberta and eastern Washington, and south to Florida and Texas. In Alberta it has been planted to restore wetlands in the Athabasca oil sands region, and muskrats eat the rhizomes.
Smell and taste
Osha root smells of spicy celery with a sweet, butterscotch note, stronger after the first frosts. In a tincture the taste is earthy and warming, with a sharp, celery-like bite. Bruised sweet flag leaves give off a sweet, tangerine-like scent (USDA), and the Herb Society of America describes the rhizome's flavor as warm, pungent and peppery.
What the Cree and other nations called rat root
Many Indigenous names tie the plant to the muskrat. The Abenaki name mokwaswaskw means "muskrat plant," and Penobscot, Nanticoke and Micmac speakers used names that translate as muskrat root, according to the Herb Society of America. Cree names recorded by the Mackiki ethnobotany database at the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue include wihkes and wihkis. Ojibwa names include wiikansh.
Mackiki records Cree families boiling the rhizome as a decoction for colds, coughs and fever, and chewing pieces for toothache and stomach pain. The Cheyenne held it in such regard that only qualified Sundance priests could collect it. Dakota warriors chewed the rhizome for endurance and painted a paste of it on their faces before battle (Herb Society of America). In Europe the rhizome flavored bitters.
Why it's called bear root
Osha's names come from the bear. The Lakota name is mato tapejuta, "bear medicine," and the Diné credit the medicine to the bear. The story goes that bears dig up the root when they wake from hibernation and chew it. Observer Shawn Sigstedt watched Kodiak bears chew osha root and rub it into their fur.
People followed. The Rarámuri of Northern Mexico, who call it wasía, brewed it as a tea for stomach pain and fever. Zuni healers used it for sore throats and body aches, the Southern Ute for spiritual protection, and Hispanic ranchers in New Mexico still call it chuchupate. Osha root turned up in a Utah medicine bundle dated to 200 to 600 years old. More recently, researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso tested the root the Rarámuri use and reported in 2008 that osha stopped more than half the growth of the TB bacterium at the lowest concentration they tried. There is more on that history in our osha root guide.
Forms you'll find, and why the tincture wins for a daily root
Rat root is mostly sold as dried pieces of rhizome. Osha shows up as dried root, powder and tincture. Dried root and powder lose their smell as air and light reach them. A tincture is an alcohol extract that keeps the root's scent and bite sealed in the bottle, measured by the dropper.
Glass decides how long it stays that way. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction, and dark Miron glass is the gold standard, because it blocks the visible light that breaks extracts down. Bear Root comes in dark Miron glass.
Bear Root – Osha Root Tincture
50 ml dropper bottle. Ligusticum porteri from the mountains of Northern Mexico.
Add to bagBear Root is a 50 ml bottle of osha root tincture, a mountain plant of Northern Mexico. Simple ingredients: premium quality extract. If labels have left you unsure, bear root and osha root are the same plant.
For a daily ritual, squeeze 1 to 2 droppers under your tongue, hold it there for 20 to 30 seconds, then swallow. Or stir it into morning tea, juice, a smoothie, or the water bottle you carry after a hike or a run. At 1 to 2 droppers a day, one bottle lasts 30 to 50 days, any time of year.
What happened to calamus in the US in 1968
On May 9, 1968, the US Food and Drug Administration issued an order that any food with added calamus, calamus oil or calamus extract is deemed adulterated. That rule now sits in the Code of Federal Regulations at 21 CFR 189.110, which defines calamus as the dried rhizome of Acorus calamus. The order followed lab studies in which animals were given large doses of beta-asarone isolated from an Indian strain of the plant. Research on the North American diploid, Acorus americanus, found little or no beta-asarone, according to the Herb Society of America and the published chemistry summarized on Wikipedia. Osha is a different plant and is not part of that rule.
Bear Root considerations
Contains alcohol. Not recommended during pregnancy. If you're nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.
Questions people ask
Is bear root the same as rat root?
No. Bear root is osha (Ligusticum porteri), a carrot-family plant of high mountains. Rat root is sweet flag (Acorus), a wetland plant in its own family.
Is rat root the same as calamus root?
Yes, rat root is a common name for sweet flag, which is also sold as calamus. The native North American plant is usually listed as Acorus americanus.
Why is it called rat root?
Muskrats eat the rhizomes, and many Indigenous names for the plant, such as the Abenaki mokwaswaskw, mean muskrat plant or muskrat root.
Where does Bear Root come from?
Mara's Bear Root is made from osha, a mountain plant of Northern Mexico.