Sweet vernal grass....Anthoxanthum odoratum

[Toddy]

Does anyone grow this ? and if so, what do you use it for ?

I had intended to grow it in a large pot, and to crop it for basketry and for plaited hearth herb type things.
However, after having bought seed, and just taken them out of the fridge, I've been reading up about it and the courmarin content appears to now be totally not considered a good thing

Basically just asking if the collective has any opinions one way or t'other.

M

 

[Broch]

Interestingly, in my research (so far), Anthoxanthum odoratum has not shown up as having any medicinal or utilitarian uses in the UK. However the North American Ethnobotany Database says it is used for basket making and for ceremonial use because of its scent!

BRIT - Native American Ethnobotany Database

naeb.brit.org

 

[Toddy]

I know of it as a hearth herb, like mugwort, burnt for it's perfumed and cleansing smoke. I know of it as among the strewing herbs, like bedstraw, with a much nicer background scent than any pot pourri of dodgy artificial brews. I know of it as a basketry material, being both long enough, flexible enough and scented, much the same way that seagrass has a scent.

I didn't know that it was supposed to kill cattle, that it stopped coagulation of the blood and that it was a major cause of hayfever

 

[Broch]

OK, yes, I do have it listed as a 'room' scent; but where did you get all that other info from? - I am clearly missing some important references (I feel an excuse to buy more books coming on).

I have, for a while now, felt that I should make the database I am building available to other (trusted) individuals to enable review and faster build of the information - unfortunately, I don't think it's quite tidy enough yet.

 

[Toddy]

Common use of a very common material

I worked from one end of the country to the other. People who make use of natural materials talk to each other about the plants they use, that they know of from long provenance, traditional skills, etc., From basketry to rope making, from stuffing paliasses to bents (reeds) for corsets 'grasses' get a lot of use.

Sweet vernal grass used to be considered a good thing, I didn't know that it was not now.

I have used it to make baskets, I have used it to make thick plaits that we burned to 'clean' the air, etc., We mixed it into the strewing rushes we used too. Mind I've worked in places like round houses, black houses, castles and the like, so sometimes it comes up among those kind of mixes. Rushes, meadowsweet, lemon balm, bedstraw, mugwort, etc.,

Your database sounds fascinating My own notebooks are a right mix of information, recipes, descriptions, sketches, and uses and do-s and don'ts.