Angelica
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Angelica
COMMON NAME(S): Angelica
SYNONYM(S):
FAMILY: APIACEAE (UMBELLIFERAE) - Carrot family
ORIGIN: Northern Hemisphere, about 50 spp.
HABITAT: Wet meadows and woods
RANGE:
TYPE:
HEIGHT: Often to 6'
CHARACTERISTICS: Taproot
LEAVES: Alternate, feather-like, with 3 to many segments, the leaflets broad, toothed or lobed along margin, the leaf stems sheathing the stem
FLOWERS: Small, greenish-white to white, sometimes tinged pink, borne in large assemblages of umbrella-like clusters
FLOWERING SEASON: Summer, fall
FRUITS: Round, flattened, with winged segments, splitting at maturity
ALLERGENIC PRINCIPLES: Furocoumarins
ALLERGENIC PROPERTIES: Photodermatological
COMMENTS: This genus of parsnip-like plants has caused allergic photodermatitis in sensitive individuals. A few species are utilized as vegetables. Species in the southeast include A. triquinata Michx. which ranges to North Carolina and Tennessee, and A. venenosa (Greenway) Fern., which occurs throughout most of the southeastern United States.