UMBELLIFERAE PARSLEY FAMILY 
PURPLE-STEMMED ANGELICA 
Angelica atropurpurea L. 
Candied sweetmeats called Angelica are made from 
young stems of this giant Parsley and command a high 
price. This is particularly true of the confectionery im- 
ported from England, 
whereas it might easily 
be made from the same 
plant growing here. 
This plant grows in marshy 
spots from Newfoundland’ to 
Minnesota, Delaware and 
Iowa. The purple to green 
stems are smooth, commonly 
8-9 feet high, and 1% inches 
in diameter. They bear large 
twice-ternate leaves, the lower 
of which are sometimes 2 feet 
across. The leaflets are oval or 
oblong and finely toothed. 
The greenish white flowers 
bloom in June and July. The 
umbels are 2-4 inches broad 
and contain 7-16 rays 1-2% 
inches long. The secondary 
umbels are small and dense, 
bearing the small flowers on pedicels one-half inch long. The 
petal tips are incurved. The seeds are one-quarter inch long, 
ovate and somewhat flattened. 
An ornamental relative is the Hairy Angelica, Angelica villosa 
(Walt.) BSP. It is much smaller and in Illinois is found only in the 
Ozark extension. It is a perennial 2-6 feet high, with the upper stem 
and umbels densely covered with grayish hairs. The lower leaves 
are ternate or twice ternate and the pinnately arranged segments 
are thick, oval and finely toothed. The upper leaves are reduced 
to sheathing petioles. The umbels are 2-4 inches broad, compound 
and 7-30-rayed. The rays are 1 inch long and the pedicels very 
short; thus the inflorescence is dense and, because of the white 
flowers, conspicuous. 
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