Plant Profile: Chuchupate, Oshá

Ligusticum porteri – Chuchupate, Oshá

Other Names:  Bear Root, Colorado Cough Root, Chuchupate, Hunawpi, Nawpi, Wasike, Shush, Chuchupaste, Porter’s Lovage

Origin:  Chuchupate is found primarily from the Rocky Mtns. south down into the Cordillera of Mexico. Widely used by peoples of the Southwest and Mexico with a far-reaching significance in their cosmology. The plant is greatly varied in terms of size, scent, growth characteristics, and adaptability to the environment. It is not grown commercially, but is prolific in the mountains of Colorado, primarily SW Colorado.

Energetics:  Hot & Dry. Pungent, spicy sweet, bitter. Vital Stimulant. Tonic.

Properties:  Stimulating diaphoretic, stimulating expectorant, circulatory stimulant, antiviral, carminative, aromatic bitter, digestive, antimicrobial, styptic, anodyne, antiseptic, emmenagogue

Uses:  Cough, sore throat, colds, influenza, bronchitis, fever, empacho, indigestion, injured joints/tendons/ligaments, bruises, toothache, snake bite, wounds, stings, or spider bites.

Appearance, Habitat & Poison Relatives

Ligusticum porteri has opposite or whorled…