Osha

Ligusticum porteri

Osha

Gaia no longer makes any products that contain Osha root. Osha root is an endangered herb on the United Plant Savers ‘at risk list’, and it is not possible to cultivate it on a farm. It grows in the wild in high elevation in Colorado and New Mexico and has become increasingly difficult to source. Gaia Herbs has actively funded efforts to study and support the growth of this herb in the wild, but progress takes time in this area. The increased popularity of herbal medicine may lead to the extinction of Osha in the wild if herbal companies continue to harvest the root without any way to sustainably cultivate it. Osha root is a member of the Carrot or Apiaceae family of plants and is also known as Colorado Cough Root, Chuchupate and Mountain Lovage, among many other regional names. It was traditionally used by the Jicarilla Apache in ceremonial smoking blends with tobacco as well as by decoction to soothe sore throats and loosen phlegm in the chest. Osha was listed in the 1918 United States Dispensatory as Ligusticum filicinum and indicated for respiratory ailments. This same use has been confirmed historically in folk culture through interviews with Hispanic families in the San Luis valley in Colorado. It is native to the Rocky Mountain regions above 8,000 feet in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.