Index of Species Information
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| Clayton's sweetroot. Image by Jennifer Anderson, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Osmorhiza claytonii
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Pavek, Diane S. 1992. Osmorhiza claytonii. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/osmcla/all.html [].
Revisions:
On 1 June 2018, the common name of this species was changed in FEIS
from: sweet cicely
to: Clayton's sweetroot. Images were also added.
ABBREVIATION:
OSMCLA
SYNONYMS:
Osmorhiza aristata var. brevistylis (DC.) Bowin
Washingtonia claytonii (Michx.) Britt.
NRCS PLANT CODE:
OSCL
COMMON NAMES:
Clayton's sweetroot
downy sweet cicely
sweet cicely
sweet jarvil
wooly sweet cicely
TAXONOMY:
The scientific name of Clayton's sweetroot is Osmorhiza claytonii
(Michx.) C. B., Clarke in the parsley family (Apiaceae). There are no
recognized subspecies, varieties, or forms.
LIFE FORM:
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Osmorhiza claytonii
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
In Canada, Clayton's sweetroot is found from southern Manitoba east to
Quebec and south to Newfoundland [11,14,15,21,31]. In the United
States, Clayton's sweetroot is distributed from the New England states west to
the Great Plains, extending south into central Arkansas and northern
Alabama [3,14,20,29,32].
 |
| Distribution of Clayton's sweetroot. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC [2018, January 29] [33]. |
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
STATES:
AL AR CT GA KS KY IN IA IL ME
MD MA MI MN MO NE NH NJ NC ND
NY OH PA RI SC SD TN VT VA WI
WV MB NB NF NS ON PE PQ SK
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
14 Great Plains
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K098 Northern floodplain forest
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
SAF COVER TYPES:
16 Aspen
17 Pin cherry
18 Paper birch
19 Gray birch - red maple
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
26 Sugar maple - basswood
27 Sugar maple
28 Black cherry - maple
39 Black ash - American elm - red maple
42 Bur oak
46 Eastern redcedar
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
55 Northern red oak
57 Yellow-poplar
59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
60 Beech - sugar maple
63 Cottonwood
93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
95 Black willow
108 Red maple
109 Hawthorn
110 Black oak
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES:
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
Clayton's sweetroot has a patchy distribution throughout the understory of the
northern hardwood and eastern deciduous forests [17]. It is an
indicator and/or a dominant species in the sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
climax communities of the northern states and Canada [6,8,17,37].
Common codominants in these climax communities with sugar maple are
American beech (Fagus grandifolia), red oak (Quercus rubra), and eastern
hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) [8,17]. Clayton's sweetroot is an indicator of
highly productive sites of climax sugar maple-basswood (Tilia americana)
stands and subclimax oak-aspen (Quercus spp.-Populus tremuloides)
[9,16]. In a Minnesota sugar maple-basswood climax forest, frequency
was six Clayton's sweetroot plants per square yard (7.3 plants/sq m) [9].
Clayton's sweetroot is a minor component in the sugar maple-white ash (Fraxinus
americana) forest zone and in the sugar maple associations with yellow
birch (Betula alleghaniensis), black ash (Fraxinus nigra), or American
elm (Ulmus americana) of eastern Canada [22,24].
Forest classifications that list Clayton's sweetroot as an indicator or
dominant species are:
(1) Field guide: Habitat classification system for the Upper Peninsula of
Michigan and Northeast Wisconsin [6]
(2) The principal plant associations of the Saint Lawrence Valley [8]
(3) The "big woods" of Minnesota: its structure, and relation to
climate, fire, and soils [9]
(4) Variation in overstory biomass among glacial landforms and
ecological land units in northwestern lower Michigan [16]
(5) Field guide to forest habitat types of northern Wisconsin [17]
(6) Soil-vegetation relationships in northern hardwoods of Quebec [22]
(7) A forest classification for the maritime provinces [24]
(8) The composition and dynamics of a beech-maple climax community [37].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Osmorhiza claytonii
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
No information was available on this topic.
PALATABILITY:
No information was available on this topic.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
No information was available on this topic.
COVER VALUE:
No information was available on this topic.
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
No information was available on this topic.
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
No information was available on this topic.
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
No information was available on this topic.
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Osmorhiza claytonii
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Clayton's sweetroot is a native perennial forb with thickened fibrous roots
extending from a caudex [11]. Its solitary stem grows from 12 to 35
inches (30-90 cm) high with compound leaves [6,36]. Flower stalks have
very small umbels, producing thin black seeds with stiffly hairy ribs
[3].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
New foliage in the fall and annual flower stalks in the spring are
generated from a root stock [6,17]. In mature forests that typically
have long-term disturbance regimes, Clayton's sweetroot responds to small scale
disturbances, such as one causing a tree gap, by increasing its cover
[7,35].
Clayton's sweetroot seeds are disseminated by dropping from the plant or by
snagging in animal fur, hair, or clothing [6,17]. Clayton's sweetroot seeds
require warm stratification followed by cold stratification before
germination will occur [3]. In laboratory studies, 98 percent of the
seeds germinated after 4 weeks with day temperatures at 86 degrees
Fahrenheit (30 deg C) and night temperatures at 59 degrees Fahrenheit
(15 deg C) followed by 2 weeks at 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 deg C) days
and nights [3]. Under field conditions, Clayton's sweetroot sheds seed during
the summer or early autumn when temperatures are relatively warm to hot,
which results in high germination rates the following spring. Baskin
and Baskin [3] also found that a portion of the seed did not germinate
until the second spring after shedding. Clayton's sweetroot forms a
short-lived seed bank.
Seeds that are not dropped and remain attached to the plant during the
winter have longer dormancy after being shed. This seed required 12
weeks warm stratification followed by cold stratification to yield 96
percent germination [3].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
Clayton's sweetroot grows in rich, mesic, mixed-hardwood forests [3,29]. It is
common in woods on shaded hillsides [11,15,32,34]. It also occurs on
the forested edges of wet prairies and meadows [5,18].
Sites on which Clayton's sweetroot occurs vary from well-drained gravelly or
sandy loams to poorly drained clay loams [2,24,26]. Occasionally, there
is a top layer of humus, 1 to 4 inches (2.5-10 cm) deep [37]. Water may
be at or near the soil surface for most of the year [5,16,18]. The soil
pH is acidic to strongly acidic; calcium and magnesium have generally
been leached out [18]. Clayton's sweetroot is found on level to very steep (75
percent) slopes [18,24]. It occurs from elevations of 600 feet to 2,200
feet (183-670 m) [27,28].
The climate is generally characterized by short, mild summers and long,
cold winters [18,27]. At one representative site, average annual
precipitation is about 39 inches (1,000 mm); snowpack, an average of 10
inches (250 cm) per year, may last from November to April [27]. The
growing season is approximately 200 days over its range [37].
Associated overstory species are bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa),
yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), and black willow (Salix nigra)
[5,35]. Common associated shrubs are fly honeysuckle (Lonicera
canadensis), red elderberry (Sambucus pubens), and juneberry
(Amelanchier alnifolia) [5,28]. Herbaceous associates are enchanter's
nightshade (Circaea quadrisulcata), American pokeweed (Phytolacca
americana), feather Solomon's-seal (Smilacina racemosa), and several
violet species (Viola spp.) [26,27,28].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
Clayton's sweetroot is relatively shade tolerant [1,37]. It is a mature,
approximate climax or climax understory species in deciduous forests
[2,28]. In studies of Ohio old field-deciduous forest seres, Clayton's
sweetroot was present herb only in 200+ year-old stands as a subdominant or
minor herb [2,28,35].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
In the spring before the canopy closes, Clayton's sweetroot initiates foliage
growth and then puts up a flower stalk. It begins flowering in April
in the southern part of its range [29,32]. In the northern parts, it
flowers progressively later: blooming in May and June in the central
states, and June to August in the far north [14,15,21,29]. Clayton's sweetroot
seeds mature from June through August. The seeds are shed primarily in
late autumn and winter; however, they may not be dropped until the
following spring [3]. Seedlings generally emerge in the spring [3].
The flower stalk dies in the fall, but new leaves are put out at that
time [6,17]. Clayton's sweetroot overwinters as a rosette [9].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Osmorhiza claytonii
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
In the communities in which Clayton's sweetroot grows, fire occurrence ranges
from uncommon in the northern hardwoods to very common in the
Appalachian oak forests [23]. A covering of soil protects the caudex of
an established Clayton's sweetroot plant. Under moist conditions, a root stock
may survive fire. Seed buried in soil may be insulated enough to
survive [13]. However, seeds attached to stalks at the time of burning
will die.
Accumulated dead stalks are a fire hazard to Clayton's sweetroot. Aerial stems
of Clayton's sweetroot die each fall and generally remain attached [6,17].
These old stems make the plant more susceptible to burning.
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
Caudex, growing points in soil
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Osmorhiza claytonii
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
No fire studies have been done on Clayton's sweetroot. Fire top-kills foliage.
The soil-covered root stock may survive, unless conditions are dry and
duff layers are well-developed [37]. Under these conditions, fire may
consume the caudex and kill the plant and seed bank.
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
Fire severity and rooting depth of the caudex control recovery of Clayton's
sweetroot. If burned in late summer or early autumn, surviving root stocks
should sprout, since Clayton's sweetroot normally initiates new leaves in the
fall [6,17]. With a persistent seed bank, Clayton's sweetroot seeds may
germinate in the first postfire spring [3]. Off-site regeneration is
possible; seeds can be transported into burned areas.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE:
The Research Project Summary Effects of surface fires in a mixed red and
eastern white pine stand in Michigan provides information on prescribed
fire and postfire response of plant community species, including Clayton's sweetroot,
that was not available when this species review was written.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
No information was available on this topic.
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Osmorhiza claytonii
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