Sweetgrass

Parts Usually Used

The leaves and stems (typically braided when dried)

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Sweetgrass is a fragrant, rhizomatous, perennial grass that reaches a height of 30 inches (7 dm). The stems are hollow, hairless with open sheaths. 8 inches (10-30 cm) long. 5 inches (4-9 cm) long with lower branches drooping to spreading. The spikelets are three-flowered, with the two lowest florets staminate (male) and the uppermost perfect (both female and male). Sweetgrass is an early blooming plant that flowers from May to August and is easily identified by its sweet vanilla-like fragrance.

The stems are upright and hollow, with elongated, narrow and flat leaves (up to ¼ inch wide). Its rhizomes and roots form a dense mat beneath the soil surface.

Where Found

Sweetgrass is a circumboreal plant common above 40 degrees north latitude in Asia, Europe, and North America. In North America, it grows from Labrador to Alaska, and south to New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Arizona, and Washington. It grows in wet meadows, low prairies, edges of sloughs and marshes, bogs, shaded streambanks, lakeshores, and cool mountain canyons.

Sweetgrass is becoming increasingly rare in the wild due to over-harvesting and habitat loss. It is listed as endangered or at-risk in many regions. It seldom grows in pure stands, usually appearing among other grasses or shrubs.

Medicinal Properties

Sweetgrass contains coumarin, which gives it its characteristic sweet smell. It has purifying, calming, and healing properties that have been used for centuries in Native American traditions. Sweetgrass is considered one of the four sacred medicines by many tribes, along with tobacco, cedar, and sage. Its medicinal properties include: Calming and stress-reducing effects Respiratory support Rich in antioxidants Mild digestive relief Nervine properties Anticoagulant effects (due to coumarin content)

Biochemical Information

Coumarin is the main active compound that gives sweetgrass its vanilla-like fragrance. Research has shown coumarin and related compounds to be effective in reducing high-protein edemas, especially lymphodema. However, coumarin also has potentially toxic properties and can cause liver injury and hemorrhages.

Legends, Myths and Stories

Sweetgrass is called the “grass that never dies” by many Native American tribes. Even when cut, it retains its fragrance and spirit. ” In the Medicine Wheel, sweetgrass is associated with the direction of the north and represents the color white. It symbolizes healing, peace, growth, and the cycle of life.

Uses

In Indigenous traditions, dried braids of the plant were burned as ceremonial incense and smudges intended for the purification of people, objects, and spaces, as well as during rituals such as the Sun Dance. The smoke was traditionally regarded as a carrier of prayers to the Creator and as a defense against negative spirits and energies. It was also incorporated into sacred medicine bags, protective amulets, and ceremonial pipe-smoking blends alongside red willow and bearberry.

Historically, herbalists and traditional practitioners prepared the plant as a tea for coughs, sore throats, and bladder complaints, or combined it with meadow rue to address nasal congestion. Infusions were utilized externally as an eyewash, as a wash for windburn and chapped skin, and as a hair rinse to impart shine. The herb was also traditionally employed as a calming remedy.

In craft and domestic contexts, the fragrant stems were woven into baskets alongside materials such as birch bark, fashioned into decorative elements for cradleboards, and worn as personal perfume. The dried herb was placed in clothing sachets to provide fragrance and to act as a natural moth repellent.

How Sold

Sweetgrass is commercially available as: Dried braids for smudging Seeds and plugs for cultivation Dried leaves for tea Handcrafted baskets incorporating sweetgrass Ceremonial items and smudge sticks However, ethical considerations are important when purchasing sweetgrass products. Many Native American communities consider commercial selling of sweetgrass problematic, and wild harvesting has led to significant population decline.