SWEET CICELY IS BLOOMING

SWEET CICELY...

...BLOOMING ALONG WITH LUPINES ON HWY. 13

Wednesday, 7:30 AM.  52 degrees F on the porch, 57 at the ferry dock. Wind NW, lightly breezy. The sky is mostly clear.  The humidity is 78% and the barometer is rising, now at 29.92".  We should have  nice days for the 4th of July holiday.  We are finishing up the last planting job of the season this morning, much later than I would prefer, but it has all worked out well.  Except for a few odds and ends, I won't do any planting until mid-September.
   Sweet Cicely, Osmorhiza chilensis,  in the parsley (Umbelliferae) family, started to bloom a few days ago and now is prominent along the roadsides near the lake, often in conjunction with lupines or a bit later.  It is one of my favorite wildflowers, and  according to Fasset's Spring Flora of Wisconsin, this species is found in Wisconsin only in Bayfield County, near Lake Superior. There are other species in the region that are quite similar.  The small white flowers, which grow in umbells, are sometimes suffused with pink, and are sweetly anise scented, sometimes so strong one can detect them from a distance .  The genus name in Greek means scented root, and the species name refers to it also occurring in South America (it also is found in the western mountains and in California).
   Native American medicinal uses: decoction of roots as a physic, also for colds, etc.  For additional information on Sweet Cicely, use the blog search engine.