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Angelica sylvestris - L.

Wild Angelica

Author	L.	Botanical references	17
Family	Umbelliferae	Genus	Angelica
Synonyms	Angelica montana - Brot.
Known Hazards	All members of this genus contain furocoumarins, which increase skin sensitivity to sunlight and may cause dermatitis[238].
Range	Most of Europe, including Britain, to W. Asia and Siberia.
Habitat	Moist fields and hedgerows, open woods, marshes and fens, not usually found on acid soils[7, 13].
Edibility Rating	3 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	2 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Biennial growing to 1.5m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge; Deep Shade; Hedgerow;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves; Root; Seed.

Edible Uses: Condiment.

Leaves, young shoots and stems - used as an aromatic addition to salads[7], or cooked and used as a vegetable[2, 5, 8, 13, 183]. The taste is somewhat bitter[5]. The chopped leaves are a good addition to cooked acid fruits, especially rhubarb[183]. The stem and leafstalks are used in candies and sweetmeats[2, 46, 105, 183]. Seed - used as an aromatic flavouring in confections and pastries[2, 7]. Root - cooked[2].

Medicinal Uses

Antispasmodic; Carminative; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Expectorant; Stimulant; Stomachic; Tonic.

The root and the seeds are antispasmodic, aromatic, carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, stimulant, stomachic, and tonic[7, 13, 21, 147, 218]. This plant is less rich in active principles than A. archangelica and so is much less used medicinally than that species[9, 244], but a decoction is sometimes used in the treatment of bronchial catarrh, coughs and dyspepsia[9]. Large doses have the effect of depressing the central nervous system[7].

Other Uses

Dye; Parasiticide.

The pulverized fruits are used to kill head parasites[46, 61]. A good yellow dye is obtained from the plant (the report does not specify which part of the plant)[4].

Cultivation details

Requires a deep moist fertile soil in dappled shade or full sun[200]. Succeeds in deep shade. Plants are reliably perennial if they are prevented from setting seed[200].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe since the seed only has a short viability[200]. Seed can also be sown in the spring, though germination rates will be lower. It requires light for germination[200]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in the spring. The seed can also be sow in situ as soon as it is ripe.

Links

References

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[5] Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974 ISBN 0-00-219060-5
Edible wild plants found in Britain. Fairly comprehensive, very few pictures and rather optimistic on the desirability of some of the plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[8] Ceres. Free for All. Thorsons Publishers 1977 ISBN 0-7225-0445-4
Edible wild plants in Britain. Small booklet, nothing special.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[147] ? A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press 0 ISBN 0-914294-92-X
A very readable herbal from China, combining some modern methods with traditional chinese methods.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.

Readers Comments

Angelica sylvestris

Marinella Zepigi Pessina Sun Oct 29 2006

Il Forum dei Funghi e Fiori in Italia - Micologia e Botanica

Angelica sylvestris

Thu Nov 16 2006

is this plant like a wild celery?

Angelica sylvestris

Ken Fern, Plants for a Future Mon Nov 20 2006

This plant is in the same family as celery, but has quite different properties and flavour.

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