Saturday, April 23, 2005 Wild Herb Osh Is Popular With Bears as Well as Humans By Rachel Ray For the Journal It's almost springtime, and in the Canjilon area of the Carson National Forest, black bears will be emerging from their dens. After a long dehydrating sleep, a human might head to the refrigerator for a glass of orange juice. But the bears' newly awakened senses are seeking a very different restorative; their powerful sense of smell may very well take them to trees exuding a pungent odor like highly concentrated celery. That celery smell comes from osh , a root-like plant belonging to the celery family, which grows at the base of the trees. Bears have been observed devouring osh as well as rubbing it on their faces and ears after hibernation. But as its growth declines, scientists and herbalists in New Mexico have begun a mission to determine first whether osh can be grown under modified conditions as an alternative, high-value crop, and secondly, every conceivable use for this plant known colloquially as "bear root." According to New Mexico State University Professor Charles A. Martin, the observance of the bears' springtime ritual by Native Americans led them to conclude that if osh is good for bears, then it must be good for them, too. It came to be viewed as a powerful natural antibiotic that was cleansing the bears' systems after their long hibernations as well as ridding their faces of lice and other parasites. Today, osh , or Ligusticum porteri, which can be found at altitudes of 8, 000 feet and above, primarily in New Mexico and Colorado, is in demand for human medicinal use not only in the states covering its bioregion but on the East and West coasts and in Europe. Contributing to osh 's decline is a slow growth cycle of seven to 10 years, combined with over-harvesting and, in Martin's view, global warming. Yet demand for the plant is so high that some herbalists predict its popularity could ultimately rival that of echinacea. Tomas Enos, an herbalist for 15 years and the owner of El Milagro herb shop in Santa Fe, said that he is contacted frequently by national herb companies requesting up to 500 pounds of dry osh . In order to produce that amount, Enos said, he would have to remove 1, 500 pounds of fresh osh from the forest. He refuses the requests, and along with Susan Feaverayear of Artemisia Herbs in Dixon and Lynda Prim of Resting in the River Farm in Abiquiu, believes osh gatherers need to be more educated in regard to its harvesting. The herbaceous plant, which seems like a tough root, is very similar looking to the deadly water hemlock, but unlike the hemlock, has purple or red striations. Enos said gatherers should get expert assistance in identifying osh , since it can easily be confused with the hemlocks, which are deadly to humans. Osh grows in a cold climate and, according to the herbalists, should be harvested in the fall as cold weather arrives. Gatherers can then reseed as they harvest. Most harvesting in New Mexico is done on public lands, in national forests and on Bureau of Land Management property. There are numerous uses for osh in herbal medicine. Most focus on its reputation as an antibiotic. The herb is also used for any ailment involving the respiratory system, as a blood cleanser or to settle the stomach, Enos said. Osh is marketed in candy, cough syrup, tinctures, salves, honey and as a raw root. Resting in the River has developed a mouth spray with osh . But Martin believes that there could be even more uses for this herb, based on its smell alone, in sachets, potpourris, lotions, soaps, shampoos, and massage oil. Herbalists say they believe cultivated osh would be a boon in light of the plant's declining state. A 1996 NMSU study for which Martin was a researcher concluded that, depending on species, timing and quality, farmers could make considerably more money growing herbs than they could traditional crops like alfalfa, chile and corn. The project insp
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