Gray's licorice-root is a perennial herb in the carrot family, native to mountain meadows and forest floors in the western United States. It is rarely grown in gardens, and its key requirement is cool, moist, shaded conditions.
Family
Apiaceae (Carrot family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep soil consistently moist, especially in the growing season.
Soil
Rich, moist, well-drained loam with plenty of organic matter.
Temperature
10–22 °C; tolerates cold winters well and dislikes heat.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
W. U.S.A.
Climate
temperate
About
Ligusticum grayi is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Gray's licorice-root. It is native to the western United States from Montana to California, where it grows in moist, mountainous habitat, such as meadows and forest floors. It is a carrotlike, perennial herb growing from a taproot to heights between 20 and 80 centimeters. The leaves are like those of its relatives, including celery, each divided into several leaflets with pointed lobes. The inflorescence is a compound umbel of many small, white flowers. The Atsugewi used various parts of this plant for medicinal and other uses.
The species could be confused with poison hemlock.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ligusticum grayi by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.