Osha Root, Raiz del Cochino: Healing Herb Bag Powder in Bless Me Ultima

Summary: Osha root (Lingusticum porteri), known in Spanish as raíz del cochino, is valued as a healing herb bag powder in Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya.

perennial herb oshá (Ligusticum porteri) with quaking aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) behind and thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) in front: JerryFriedman, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Beloved herb of bears, Mexicans and Southwestern Americans

La curandera (the healer) in Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima appreciates wildlife. Oshá root belongs at the top of Ultima's list. It carries such common names in English as bear medicine, bear root, cough root, Indian root, Indian parsley, licorice lovage, love-root, mountain carrot, mountain ginseng, pig-root, wild lovage and wild parsley and in Spanish as raíz del cochino (root of the pig).

Taxonomists describe it as Ligusticum (Ligurian [lovage]) porteri (of [botanist Thomas Conrad] Porter [Jan. 22, 1822-April 27, 1901]).

Whatever the name, Ultima's root exists at altitudes of 4,900 to 11,500 feet (1,493.52 to 3,505.2 meters). It favors aspen-ringed (Populus) meadows, fir (Abies) and spruce (Picea) forests and oak (Quercus) and pine (Pinus) woodlands. It grows in Mexico and, in the United States of America, in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

Non-poisonous look-alike of poison hemlock, smell-alike of celery

Ultima's root harbors no poisons. It is differentiated from poison hemlock (Conium maculatum) by celery-like spiciness, chocolate-brown, wrinkled root skins, hairy root crowns and water-logged intolerance.

Apiaceae (carrot-, celery-, parsley-like) family hollow stems join with fibrous, inner, yellow-white root tissues and main stems full of dark-edged, fern-like, light-centered leaflets 0.19 to 1.58 inches (5 to 40 millimeters) wide to manage, when 2 to 3 feet (0.61 to 0.91 meters) high, oblong, red, ribbed fruits 0.19 to 0.32 inches (5 to 8 millimeters) long and large, red-tinted basal leaf attachments to root crowns; and 0.08- to 0.19-inch (2- to 5-millimeter) white or yellow flowers in 4-inch (10.16-centimeter) clusters on 3- to 6-foot (0.91- to 1.83-meter) stalks June to October.

Resistant to cultivation outside native meadows, ravines, woods

Experts know that Ultima's root favors overwintering as autumn-gathered seeds sown in cold frames or greenhouses; planting as seedlings in individual springtime pots for summer transplanting in sun-filled, well-drained soils; and propagating as spring-divided cuttings.

Beneficial, pollinating halictid bees (Halictidae family) like Ultima's root, which nevertheless is hermaphroditically self-fertile. Plant-lovers likewise mention the convenience of drought and frost tolerance, hardiness to 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) and seed-fall at plant bases.

Non-experts and specialists notice problems when Ultima's pest-free root grows outside native habitats.

Environmental sustainability obligates Ultima's root to supply carbohydrates to specific mycorrhizal fungi in exchange for assistance in processing phosphates and zinc and in resisting contamination and pathogens.

Many gardeners therefore prefer to purchase, not grow, Ultima's root.

Welcome as food, medicine, rain-bringers, pest repellents, phyto-remediators

Nobody traditionally questions Ultima's root blue-dying edibles and non-edibles; ending nicotine dependencies; freshening air; repelling pests such as cutworms, insects, snakes; and treating brown recluse spider bites and scorpion stings. Healers reference its efficaciously channeling such active ingredients as camphor, ferulic acid, glycosides, lactone, phytosterols, saponins and terpenes.

They specify its relief to aches, colds, coughs, fevers, indigestion, inflammations and rheumatism; asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia and tuberculosis; bruises, cuts, sinus/skin infections and ulcers; diarrhea; and hangovers.

Ultima's root takes medicinal form as capsules, tablets and tea-pills; extracts, loose-leaf teas and tinctures; and powders and poultices.

Non-medicinal uses utilize Ultima's root fresh to add cucumber-like flavoring to salads and soups and to season beans, chilis and meats.

Not surprisingly, Mexicans and southwestern Americans really value Ultima's multi-tasking root!

Ligusticum porteri's leaves, Winsor Trail, Santa Fe National Forest, near Santa Fe, north central New Mexico: Jerry Friedman, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Oshá (Ligusticum porteri) in between quaking aspen and thimbleberry, San Cristobal Canyon, Columbine-Hondo Wilderness Study Area, Taos County, north central New Mexico: Jerry Friedman, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ligusticum_porteri_habitus.jpg

Ligusticum porteri's leaves, Winsor Trail, Santa Fe National Forest, near Santa Fe, north central New Mexico: Jerry Friedman, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ligusticum_porteri_leaves1.jpg

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. "Film Review of Bless Me Ultima: The Ultimate Movie Version of the Novel by Rudolfo Anaya." Wizzley > Entertainment & Media > Movies > Drama. Jan. 13, 2015.
Available @ https://wizzley.com/film-review-of-bless-me-ultima-the-ultimate-movie-version-of-the-novel-by-rudolfo-anaya/