Sweetgrass is the most fragrant of sacred Native American medicinal plants. Its tall stalks sway along shaded streams and grow en masse in spring meadows. Tulip-shaped flowers hang from its stems during the blooming season and its aromatic grasses are harvested in summer. Cut sweetgrass retains its fragrance and purity when dried naturally in the sun. It is then often braided to burn for ceremonially cleansing, used for medicinal teas, or woven into coiled baskets for utilitarian purposes as in earlier times, and as artworks today.