Anthoxanthum nitens · Kew POWO · Kew Plants of the World Online
Hierochloe odorata
Sign in to saveAlso known as seneca grass, sweet grass, bison grass, vanilla grass, Mary’s grass, sweetgrass, buffalo grass, holy grass
aromatic herb which grows in northern Eurasia and North America
Species
SPECIES
- KingdomPlantae
- PhylumTracheophyta
- ClassLiliopsida
- OrderPoales
- FamilyPoaceae
General: Hierochloe odorata is a member of the grass family (Poaceae
via GBIF · Kew POWO
Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 2,051
- With media
- 1,813
- Family
- Poaceae
- Collections
- UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA MUSEUMS, UNM, CHSC, CHAS, BUT, CMN
- Recorded in
- Canada, Finland, United States
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Subclass of
- useful plant
- Parent taxon
- Hierochloë
- Image
- Hierochloe odorata (USDA).jpg
Show 6 more facts
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Sweet grass photographed in British Columbia, Canada 2007 Hierochloe odorata or Anthoxanthum nitens (commonly known as sweet grass, manna grass, Mary's grass or vanilla grass, and as holy grass in the UK, bison grass e.g. by Polish vodka producers) is an aromatic herb native to northern Eurasia and North America. It is considered sacred by many Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States. It is used as a smudge in herbal medicine and in the production of distilled beverages (e.g., Żubrówka, Wisent). It owes its distinctive sweet scent to the presence of coumarin.
This variety of grass is distinct from the species commonly known as buffalo grass in Australia and the United States (Stenotaphrum secundatum and Bouteloua dactyloides, respectively).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Hierochloe odorata” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.