Osha (Ligusticum porteri) is a perennial herb found in parts of the Rocky Mountains and northern Mexico, especially in the southwestern United States. Osha plant was used in traditions of Native Americans. Osha is sometimes confused in the wild with poisonous hemlock; the difference between the two is that the osha root is extremely "hairy" and smells like incredibly strong celery. Osha doesn't like to be domesticated, and is all but impossible to grow under cultivation. Virtually all commercial osha is Wild harvested. Osha got he name "bear medicine" because it was noted by Native Americans and early settlers that bears would seek it out when they first emerged from hibernation as a means to stimulate their appetite, as well as chewing it into a "cud" of sorts and then dripping it down and rubbing it into their fur.