Angelica

 Angelica in the marsh

I have heard of angelica plant for quite a while. I know it is valued for its medicinal properties and I even bought dong quai (Chinese Angelica) root capsules and I found them very good. I have never seen it growing wild though. That is, until a few days ago when I took a walk in remote marsh in Humboldt Wildlife Refuge.

Angelica 

Here it was, growing at the far end of the loop trail. There were a few patches but all on the far end of the loop. It's like the plant did not want to be found. I felt like a detective who finally found a person he's been hunting for.

Angelica plant in profile

Notice reddish stem. They are not reddish all over though, just some parts of the stem, sometimes you'll see reddish tint on one side of the stem. In the above picture notice purple blotches on the lower part of the stem: it is a signature feature of poison hemlock but hemlock has purple blotches all over the stem. Actually I noticed that lots of the marsh plants have some purple blotches on the stem so don't use that as a single identifying feature.

Angelica

This is a more typical example. The plant has reddish stem but usually on one side and a few small reddish speckles. The stems of angelica are smooth and hollow.

Angelica leaves

The leaves of angelica are wide and not at all like hemlock's lacy leaves.  Finally, the bloom is quite different too: angelica has umbrella shape flowers typical for parsley family that later develop into a bunch of rounded florets (or whatever the botanical term is). Here is the picture:

Angelica bloom

Another identifying feature of angelica is that the plant has a nice aroma. Hemlock is supposed to smell like a mouse. I guess that means dusty.

So here you have it: a dossier for angelica compiled by yours truly. I hope to see more of this plant in the future.