Giant Angelica, Purple Parsnip, Korean Angelica
Angelica gigas
Family: Apiaceae or Umbelliferae
What it is like
Bloom Color: Purple. Main Bloom Time: Early fall, Late summer, Mid summer. Form: Upright or erect.
Angelica gigas is a PERENNIAL growing to 1.8 m (6ft) at a medium rate. It is not frost tender. It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Height (m): 1.8
Where it is found
Grassy places and open woods in the mountains. In grasses, forests or by stream at elevations around 1000 metres.
E. Asia - China, Japan.
Conservation Status:
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 2
Young leaves - cooked.
Medicine
Rating: 2
The root is used in Korea to treat anaemia, hemiplegia and women's diseases. It ontains a number of active compounds and has been shown to increase duodenum motility and have an anti-platelet aggregation action.
Blood tonic: Is this any different to a blood purifier?
Women's complaints: A very vague title, it deals with a miscellany of problems peculiar to the female sex.
Other
Rating:
How it is grown
Landscape Uses:Specimen, Woodland garden. Requires a deep moist fertile soil in dappled shade or full sun. Hardy to about -20°c. Plants flower in 2 years from seed and are reliably perennial if prevented from setting seed. Special Features: Attractive foliage, Naturalizing.
Propagating it: Seed - best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe since the seed only has a short viability. Seed can also be sown in the spring, though germination rates will be lower. It requires light for germination. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in the spring. The seed can also be sow in situ as soon as it is ripe.
Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Dappled Shade; Shady Edge;
Habit: Perennial
Hardiness: 4-8
Growth: Medium
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: Semi-shade, no shade
Moisture: Moist
Things to keep in mind
All members of this genus contain furocoumarins, which increase skin sensitivity to sunlight and may cause dermatitis.