Vernal Sweetgrass

From the Latin word for the "spring" season, we get the word "vernal" in English. One of the grasses that blooms in the spring is thereby called Vernal Sweetgrass (Anthoxanthum odoratum). This grass is native to Eurasia, but has managed to find its way, somehow, to North America. In the spring, it has a pretty, white "bloom" on top of a long stalk, a sweet fragrance, and a sweet taste.

On the right is a botanist's illustration^[1] of the entire Vernal Sweetgrass plant, the flowering top of which is shown in my photo, above.

There are several different plants called "sweetgrass" or "sweet grass" in the US, all in the Poaceae family of grasses. One of these — Muhlenbergia filipes — is, indeed, native to the southeastern US. It grows in Florida and the coastal areas of Georgia and South Carolina where it is used in basket weaving by the Seminole First Nation and the people of the Gullah culture.

Another variety — Hierochloe odorata — is native to the Great Plains area, as well as the northern US and southern Canada. This is the variety that is commonly used by the First Nations of the Plains for basketweaving and smudging. This is also the variety frequently found in shops, often sold in the form of a braid, and usually marketed simply as "sweetgrass." Of this Hierochloe odorata variety, Wikipedia indicates that: "It is used in herbal medicine and in the production of distilled beverages (e.g., Żubrówka, Wisent)." ^[3]

 😊

---

SOURCES & extra reading for those interested:
   ¹ Wikimedia Commons: Illustration of Anthoxanthum odoratum
   ² Wikipedia: Anthoxanthum odoratum
   ³ Wikipedia: Hierochloe odorata
   ⁴ Wikipedia: Muhlenbergia filipes
   ⁵ Wikipedia: Gullah
   ⁶ Wikipedia: Seminole

---