Species

Angelica pachycarpa

Etymology

Angelica: From the Latin angelus 'angel', referring to the healing properties of this genus

Common Name(s)

angelica

Family

Apiaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

ANGPAC

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Habitat

Terrestrial. Mainly coastal, waste places.

Features

Stout fleshy short-lived perennial up to 1m tall with faint aniseed odour. The stems are hollow and grooved. Leaves are dark green and glossy, and are variable in shape. Basal leaves are 2-3 pinnate and with an obvious petiole. Stem leaves are 1-3 pinnate and with much shorter petiole. Numerous greenish white flowers are held in flat-toped umbels 10-20 cm diameter. The fruit are up to 12 mm long, brown with lighter coloured wings.

Similar Taxa

Can be confused with A. archangelica, the true herbal angelica. But A. pachycarpa has darker leaves, is much smaller, lacks the very strong aroma and the umbels are flat rather than rounded.

Flowering

November, December, January

Flower Colours

Green,White

Year Naturalised

1978

Origin

N.W. Spain, W. Portugal

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Dispersal
Humans, wind, water.

Tolerances
Tolerant of very dry sites including salt-spray.

This page last updated on 18 Jan 2010