Like most biennials in the world of herbs, Angelica is a fairly flat mass of a few large leaves the first year. The second year it rises to a towering four feet as it puts forth its flowering stalk. Occasionally, it will return a third or fourth year; but, if you want to rely on it being there, it is best to plant every year.

There is some sweetness in the flowering stalk, which may be peeled and cooked, or, as often suggested, candied. Chopped Angelica root was added to the notorious addictive liqueur Absinthe (banned in this country since 1913), probably to tame the taste of the acrid Wormwood.

Angelica plants are in the Apiaceae family (formerly the Umbelliferae family) which makes it related to Dill, Chervil, Caraway, Queen's Anne Lace and Lovage. Like Lovage, there is a slight celery flavor and it can be used as a substitute for this in recipes. It even resembles celery. Angelica also looks like a few plants that are not safe to eat, so be sure of the plant you are harvesting.

For the most part, we enjoy it as a tall interesting ornamental. If you let it reseed, it should sprout the next year. If you collect the seed, you must sow it immediately. After only a few weeks, the germination rate for Angelica seeds declines dramatically. 

One of the most unusual uses for any herb has to be to candied Angelica stalks. Since the stalks need to be fairly young, spring time growth to be candied, here is a timely Candied Angelica recipe for your sweet tooth!

Angelica has also been used to flavor Vermouth and Chartreuse. In a Modern Herbal, Maude Grieve gives us a recipe for concocting your own Angelica liqueur, delicious and good for the digestive system.
An ounce of freshly gathered stem of Angelica is chopped up and steeped in 2 pints of Good Brandy (none of that cheep stuff) with 1 ounce of bitter almonds reduced to a pulp for five days. Strain through fine muslin and add a pint of liquid sugar.

There are about 30 species of Angelica. In the 1930's, Maude Grieve also wrote that A. archangelica is the only species employed medicinally. Her knowledge, though vast, was restricted to the European and American continent. We now know that the Chinese have been using Angelica sinensis or Dong Quai for centuries.  

Cultural Information

Height: 6 Feet    

Hardiness: Hardy Biennial
in Zones 4-11

Flower Color: White   

Characteristics: Full Sun,
Herbaceous

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