Updated 4 January 2024
Other botanical names
- Archangelica officinalis
Common names
- Angelica,
- True angelica, Archangelica
- Angelica officinalis, Garden angelica, Meadow angelica, Angel herb, Holy Ghost herb
Common origins
- France, Northern, Central and Eastern Europe
Botanical classification
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Order: Apiales
- Family: Apiaceae
- Genus: Angelica
Components
Root
- Essential oil
- Coumarin derivatives: umbelliferone
- Phenolic acids
- Tannins
- Bitter substances
- Carbohydrates
- Waxes
- Pectin
Fruits have a similar composition, with the presence of vitamin C and fatty oils.
Parts used
- Roots, fruits, leaves (less common)
Organoleptic properties
- Odour: aromatic, sweet, pungent, musky, pleasant (root), aniseed (seeds)
- Flavour: full, slightly bitter to pungent (root), very aromatic, sweet, aniseed, slightly pungent (seeds)
Properties
- Aperitif, stimulates gastric and pancreatic secretions, frees the thorax from mucus congestion and harmonises all visceral functions.
- Carminative
- Cholagogue
- Antispasmodic, muscle relaxant (especially for the smooth muscles of the intestine)
- General tonic, stimulant
- Helps to increase the number of red blood cells
- Balances the neuro-vegetative system
- Anxiolytic, anti-stress, anti-depressant
- Expectorant
- Emmenagogue
- Oestrogenic stimulant
- Diuretic
- Antipyretic
- Antioxidant
Indications
Digestive disorders (especially nervous):
- Dyspepsia
- Flatulence
- Spastic colitis
- Vomiting
- Intestinal fermentation
- Loss of appetite
Nervous and brain disorders:
- Fatigue
- Nervous exhaustion
- Convalescence
- Neurodegenerative dystonia
- Trembling limbs
- Stress (prolonged periods of stress)
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Depression
- Hysteria
- Hepatic and nervous migraine
Other indications:
Precautions / Contraindications
- No known adverse effects at recommended doses.
- As a precaution, avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight during treatment as there is a risk of photosensitisation in sensitive individuals due to the presence of coumarins.
- Not recommended for pregnant women as high doses may cause abortion.
- Caution: the sap of the plant is toxic and may cause allergies.
How to use / Current dose
Internal use (root)
- As a light decoction: 1 teaspoon of finely chopped dried root to 1 cup, boil for 3 minutes, steep for 10 minutes. Drink 2 to 3 cups a day before or after meals.
- As tincture or liquid extract: 20 to 30 drops in a little water, 3 times a day.
- As an essential oil: for draining toxins (gout, rheumatism), balancing the adrenal glands, etc.
- The seeds are part of the warm seeds and are mainly used as a digestive herbal tea.
External use
- As decoction or oil: for joint and muscle pain.
Find out more about angelica
To distinguish it from the dreaded hemlock, all you need to do is crumple up a few leaves: angelica has a pleasant scent, whereas hemlock stinks.
There is a wild variety (Angelica sylvestris) that grows in forests and is much less aromatic.
In Asia, a different species is widely used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, with different virtues to its European cousin, Chinese angelica (Angelica sinensis). It is particularly renowned as a gynaecological tonic, for menstrual problems, arthritis, abdominal pain, colds and flu. American Indians used it to treat respiratory problems and tuberculosis.
Additional information
Habitat and botanical description
It is a highly aromatic, biennial herbaceous plant that grows to a height of 1 to 2 metres. In its first year it appears as a stemless rosette. Its reddish cylindrical stem is hollow and grooved. The large, long-stalked leaves, divided into toothed leaflets with a three-lobed terminal segment, are hairy on the underside, becoming shorter and simpler and sheathing the axils. The inflorescence is a large compound umbel of greenish-yellow flowers. The fruit is a flattened, winged diakene. The root is blackish-brown, very stalky, firm and fleshy. The whole plant is aromatic, giving off a sweet, celery-like scent.
It is common in damp places, in rich, well-drained soil.
Harvest time
The roots are harvested after flowering in the second year, in September, cut into pieces and dried. The seeds are harvested when ripe from the second year onwards.
Mythology / History / Anecdotes and traditional virtues
Angelica, also known as 'angel's weed', owes its name to its reputed magical properties and its sweet, musky, aromatic scent. According to various legends, this solar plant is associated with the archangels Gabriel or Raphael. Its leaves, hung around children's necks, were said to protect them from evil spells.
It was used in exorcism rites: "when the devil smelled angelica, he disappeared". Renaissance doctors called it the "root of the Holy Ghost", thanks to its "great and varied properties against very serious diseases". Paracelsus reported that during the great plague epidemics of 1510, many people in Milan were saved thanks to his prescriptions for angelica powder dissolved in wine. According to Olivier de Serres, this precious plant "serves to keep people happy".
The root is used in a number of liqueurs (Benedictine, Grande Chartreuse) and, like ginseng, is considered an elixir for longevity; the candied stems are popular in pastries. Medicinally, the plant has been attributed many virtues for centuries: tonic, stimulant, stomachic, sudorific, emmenagogue, carminative, etc.