About Angelica atropurpurea L.
Angelica atropurpurea L. is a perennial plant that reaches 6 feet (180 cm) in height. Its erect, branching stem is purple, smooth, hollow, and sturdy. The leaves are compound and bipinnate, with 3 to 5 leaflets per leaf. A fully grown lower leaf can be up to 2 feet (61 cm) wide; individual leaflets measure 0.75–4.5 inches (1.9–11.4 cm) long and 0.5–2.5 inches (1.3–6.4 cm) across. Leaflets are generally ovate with serrated margins, and some are split into either shallow or deep lobes. This plant produces white to greenish flowers arranged in umbrella-shaped umbels. A single umbel can have up to 40 branches and reach 8 inches (20 cm) across, while each individual flower has 5 petals and grows up to 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) wide.
This species occurs in eastern Canada, including Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, Labrador, Newfoundland, and all three Maritime Provinces. In the United States, it is found from New England south to North Carolina, and west to Minnesota, Iowa, and Tennessee. It grows in swamps, wet thickets, woodland edges adjacent to wetlands, marshes, fens, and seeps, and typically occupies consistently moist calcareous habitats.
Flowering occurs from late spring to early summer. Angelica atropurpurea acts as a host plant for the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes), the short-tailed swallowtail (Papilio brevicauda), and the moths Agonopterix clemensella, Papaipema harrisii, and Idia americalis. Small bees are attracted to the nectar of its flowers.
The stalks of Angelica atropurpurea can be eaten like celery, and have a similar flavor. Early American settlers boiled parts of the plant to make candy and added it to cakes. In Europe, the plant was historically believed to cure alcoholism. Its aromatic root is widely used as a purification herb across many Native American cultures. In California, it is often burned during a shaman's prayers as part of a healing ceremony. Native peoples in Arkansas have traditionally held the plant in high regard, often carrying it in medicine bags and mixing it with tobacco for smoking. For the Mvskoke Creek tribes of Alabama, Oklahoma, and Northwest Florida, Angelica atropurpurea (called notossv in the Creek language) has both medicinal and ceremonial uses. Medically, the Creeks use notossv to treat adult back pain, calm people experiencing panic attacks or hysterics, act as a children's vermifuge, and address stomach disorders. Ceremonial uses among the Mvskoke Creek include preventing heat stroke during the Ribbon Dance of the Green Corn Ceremony, supporting ceremonial singers, and aiding people facing legal trouble.
