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Description:
This large biennial herb is native to eastern North America. It
is a member of the carrot family. With its giant leaves,
purple stems and large white flowers is really has some
beautiful lush growth. It looks somewhat like parsnip or celery
and tastes like licorice. The white flowers are followed by
yellowish green seedpods. Flowers from 6 to 12 feet tall.
Range:
Newfoundland to Delaware and west to Minnesota.
Habitat:
Swamps, bottomland forests, damp thickets, wet woods.
Ease
of Care: Easy to care for once established but extra care
must be taken in seed germination as explained below.
How to
grow: Angelica likes cool, moist air and average to well
drained soil. It grows in the sun or partial shade. Sow seeds in
place or transplant them when they're very small because they
don't like being moved. Seed must be subjected to a period of
moist, cold conditioning before it will sprout. Does very well
if planted outdoors in fall or very early spring. Prefers moist
soil.
Propagation:
By seed. Seeds must be no more that a few weeks old for the
plants to possibly live. Sow them in late fall or early spring
while the ground is still cool. Leave seeds on top of the soil;
do not cover them. Plant 2 feet apart.
Preservation:
Harvest angelica stems during their second spring. You can
harvest the leaves all throughout the summer and the seeds when
they are ripe. Roots are harvested in the Fall. They must
be carefully dried and preserved, because they are subject to
the attacks of insects. Stems can be candied or frozen
until use. The leaves can also be hung dry or froze, depending
on how you want to use them.
Uses:
Angelica is a popular herb in the U.S. and is often recommended
by herbalists as a treatment for gas or flatulence and stomach
pains. The root also acts like a stimulant to invigorate
circulation and warm the body. By far the most common use of
Angelica is to promote menstrual flow and help regulate
irregular menstrual cycles. The Menominees used angelica
to reduce swelling; they cooked the roots and pounded them to a
pulp, then combined them with bruised leaves of wormwood (artemisia
canadensis) to make a poultice considered good for any pain
in the chest or body. The Creeks used angelica for
disorders of they stomach, like bellyache and colic. The also
used it for worms and pains in the back.
Fresh leaves -soups &
stews
Dried leaves -salads, soups,
stews & potpourri
Seeds - teas & baked
goods
Stems -candy, pork &
baked goods
Dried roots - used
traditionally as a digestive aid, as a fever reducer and an
anti-inflammatory; also used in teas & breads
Root oil - baths &
lotions
Warning:
Angelica contains 'furocoumarins' which are photosensitizers.
That means that if you have direct contact with angelica while
in the sun, or after being exposed to it, you may get a rash on
your skin. Angelica should not be used by pregnant women or
diabetics because it has a tendency to elevate blood sugar
levels.
Historical
References:
"The root of this
plant, being very warm and aromatic, is coveted by woodsmen
extremely as a dry dram, that is, when rum, that cordial for all
distresses, is wanting" William Byrd,
October 1729
"Angelica grows here (South
Carolina) in abundance; its aromatic carminative root is in
taste much like that of ginseng, though more of the taste and
scent of Anise seed; it is in high estimation with the Indians
as well as white inhabitants, and sells at a great price to the
Southern Indians of Florida, who dwell near the sea coast where
in never grows spontaneously." William
Bartram, 1788
The Virginia Indian's
priest-physicians are "very knowing in the hidden qualities
of plants, and other natural things. They take great delight in
sweating, and therefore in every town they have a sweating house
and a doctor is paid by the public to attend it." The
writer also found the native americans to be reluctant to reveal
their healing secrets for fear of offending the
spirits.."so they suffer only the rattle snake root to be
known and such other antidotes as must be immediately
applied." Adapted
from Robert Beverley, 17th century
Beverley also wrote that the
Indians made an ointment by crushing the roots of puccoon and
wild angelica, which was mixed with bear's oil and rubbed on the
skin to "conserve the substance of the body." This
mixture also kept away "Lice, Fleas, and other troublesome
vermin from coming near them." The
History and Present State of Virginia, ed. Louis B. Wright
"Virginia Indians" -
"I will now mention to you an herb through unknown, yet
worthy to be fetched from Virginia yielded the country nothing
else, it is the herb called there Angelica…the seeds are much
like Angelica seeds…It stops the Flux and cures it to a
wonder; again it often loosens and purges the bodies of those
that are bound and have the gripes especially if it proceed from
cold; and prevents many unhappy distempers; I have reason to
speak well of it, for it is to it, under Gold, that I attribute
the saving of my own life…I take it to be the most sovereign
remedy the world ever knew in the griping of the Guts and
admirable against Vapors, it is sudorific and very Aromatic, and
will not be concealed for wherever it is mixed will have the
predominant scent. It is mostly called by those who know it in
Virginia by the name of Angelica. But showing a piece of the
root to a great Woodsman to see whether he knew it and could
tell me where it grew, he seemed surprized to see me have
thereof, and told me that he kept an Indian once for some weeks
with him; because he was an excellent Woodsmen, and going a
hunting…they came where some to this root grew; The Indian
rejoicing gathered some of it, but was very careful to cut off
the top of the root and replant it; He then asked him why he was
so careful, whereunto the Indian replied, It was a very choice
plant and very scarce for they sometime travelled 100 or 200
miles without finding any of it. He then asked Him what use it
was of, to which the Indian answered you shall see by and by.
After some time, they spied four deer at a distance, then the
Indian contrary to his usual custom went to windward of them,
and sitting down upon an old trunk of a tree, began to rub the
root between his hands, at which the deer toss up their heads
and snuffing with their noses, they fed towards the place where
the Indian sat, till they came within easy shot of him,
whereupon he fired at them, and killed a large buck…I have
often taken notice that the Indians smell generally strong of
this herb. And I have since learned from others that the Indians
call it the Hunting root…Another Gentleman, a White native of
that Country, when I once pulled a piece of the root out of my
pocket to bit thereof, for I frequently carried some of it about
me, asked me if I loved fishing…said you have gotten some of
the fishing root…when we were boys we used to get some of it
to lay with our baits to invite the fish to bite." 1687
Clayton
Angelica lucida L. [ a
coastal species, L.I. to Lab. Probably refers to A. venenosa ]
Angelic root, Belly-ache root. Nendo of the Virginian Indians.
White root of the Southern tribes. Equivalent of Ginseng and
Angelica. Root like Ginseng, taste similar, smell like aniseed.
Highly valued by the Southern Indians, and cultivated by them;
used as a carminative, and in cookery. This root is said to give
an excellent flavor to Virginia hams and pork when hogs feed on
it. It is bitterish, subacrid, fragrant and aromatic, stomachic
and tonic; useful in colics, hysterics, menstrual
suppressions…The powdered seeds kill lice. Henry adds…useful
to disperse tumors, and the root an antidote against yellow
fever, chewed when visiting the sick. The Missouri tribes call
it Lagonihah, and mix it with tobacco to smoke; they also eat it
but it often produces indigestion." 1830
Rafinesque
Angelica Root, as it is most
commonly called both by the Indians and whites, it a most valued
remedy and talisman. It is found in nearly every household and
is frequently carried about the person for good luck in hunting
and gambling. Those roots found in places were the plant does
not ordinarily grow, especially cold places, are the more highly
prized. The root, after thorough mastication, is sometimes
rubbed on the legs to prevent rattlesnake bites, and it is also
tied around the head and ears in bad cases of headache and
nightmare. The juice mixed with saliva is used as a remedy for
sore eyes. It is chewed and swallowed in cases of cold, colic,
and especially fever. For cold and catarrh, it is very
frequently crushed up and smoked like tobacco. The fresh, young
sprouts, being sweet and aromatic, are eaten raw with great
relish." 1901 Chesnut
"In diseases of
children the Angelica plant, boiled and strained, was frequently
used…There are two common species on the dry and sandy lands
throughout the United States. The 'villosa' (A. venosa) seems to
be the most widely distributed and was probably the species so
popular among the Indians. The species 'atropurpurea' so common
in our Canadian marshes does not seem, according to Hunter, to
have been greatly prized by the western tribes, although all the
species are known to be tonics, sudorifics and diuretics." 1915
W. R. Harris
A. atropurpurea. This is a
very important medicine to reduce swellings. The roots are
cooked and pounded to a pulp. Then some bruised leaves of
Artemsia canadensis are peppered over this pulp. With this mass
and a piece of cloth, a hot plaster is made that the Menomini
claim is good for any pain in the chest or body. It is applied
to the side of body opposite the pain. This is don here because
it is supposed to draw the pain through to the surface where it
can make it escape." 1923 H. Smith
Menomini
Virginia Indians devised an
ointment by crushing the roots of puccoon and wild angelica,
which was mixed with bear's oil and rubbed on the skin to
"conserve the substance of the Body." This mixture
also kept away "Lice, Fleas, and other troublesome Vermine
from coming near them." Robert
Beverly History and Present State of Virginia
"The Root of the Plant,
being very warm and Aromatic, is coveted by Woodsmen extremely
as a dry Dram, that is, when Rum, that cordial for all
Distresses, is wanting." October 8,
1729, William Byrd
'Angelica is held in high
esteem by Indians in Arkansas, who always carry it in their
medicine bags and mix it with tobacco for smoking. It is often
eaten when provisions are short on journeys. It is liable to
produce heartburn and other symptoms of indigestion and has no
great claim as a medicine, though it was sometimes given in
children's diseases, and mixed with other medicines to make them
more palatable.' John D. Hunter 1823
The Angelica lucido or Nondo
grows here in abundance; its aromatic carminative root is in
taste much like that of the Ginseng (Panax) though more of the
taste and scent of Anise seed; it is in high estimation with
Indians as well as white inhabitants, and sells at a great price
to the southern Indians of Florida, who dwell near the sea coast
where it never grows spontaneously. William
Bartram on tour in South Carolina, 1788
Southern Indians, especially
Creeks, used it for stomach disorders, dry bellyache, colic,
hysterics, worms and pains in the back. Swanton,
1924-25
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