Angelica Root (Angelica archangelica), Cut and Sifted, Certified Organic

GERMANY. Angelica Root (Angelica archangelica), Cut and Sifted, Certified Organic

Common names: Garden Angelica, Wild Celery, Masterwort, Wild Parsnip, Herb of Angels, Archange, Angel Food, Angel's Herb, Root of the Holy Spirit, Sonbol-e Khatāyi, Kvan, Boska

Family: Apiaceae (Umbelliferae)

Angelica is a flowering perennial plant, found growing wild in damp soil in northern and central parts of Eurasia, and cultivated mainly in France and eastern Europe. It may reach heights of 6 feet or more. All parts of the plant are edible and have a unique fragrance, sometimes compared to musk or juniper.

Angelica has been grown as a food and medicine for over a thousand years. It is used along with juniper berries and coriander to flavor gin, and in other distilled herbal spirits such as bitters, absinthe, and aquavit.

Medieval Europeans used Angelica as a talisman for protection and an aid for hunting and romance, and it plays a role in the shamanic healing ways of the Sami people indigenous to the European Arctic zone. It is a cousin to the Chinese herb known as Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis).

In A Modern Herbal, Mrs. Grieve notes Angelica’s use as a “carminative, stimulant, diaphoretic, stomachic, tonic and expectorant… a good remedy for colds, coughs, pleurisy, wind, colic, rheumatism and diseases of the urinary organs… a stimulating expectorant… relieve(s) flatulence, and is also of use as a stimulating bronchial tonic, and as an emmenagogue… for indigestion, general debility and chronic bronchitis.” Its relaxing effects on smooth muscles have found applications for menstrual cramps and colic. Indian and Chinese medicine employ A. archangelica to treat nervous conditions including migraine, anorexia, and anxiety.

Active compounds include terpenes and coumarins.

This plant is contraindicated in pregnancy and diabetes.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.