Angelica, Wild

Information on Wild Angelica

Common Name: Wild Angelica
Scientific Name: Angelica sylvestris
Irish Name: Gallfheabhrán
Family Group: Apiaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Wild Angelica could sometimes be confused with:

Alexanders,

 In damp, grassy places and woods, from July to September this majestic, sweet-scented perennial is to be found throughout the country.  Almost hairless, with deeply grooved purplish stems, the large (15cm) hemispherical umbels of pale, pink-flushed white flowers can be borne up to 2m. The large toothed bi and tri-pinnate leaves have large sheaths which clasp the stem and serve to protect the developing flower-heads. A native plant it belongs to the family Apiaceae

 I first identified this plant in Saltmills, Co Wexford in August 2007 and photographed it at that time also.

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

This plant species is said to yield a good, yellow dye and the stems have long been used in the kitchen as a decoration for sweetmeats.  It has also been used for flavouring liqueurs. 

Culpeper wrote that 'the distilled water (of Angelica) applied to places pained with the gout, or sciatica, doth give a great deal of ease.

Angelica and its Umbellifer cousin, Fennel, are the preferred foodplant of Lacewing moths. 

Angelica, Wild
Angelica, Wild
Angelica, Wild
Angelica, Wild