Purple angelica

Cold, damp constitution with pale tongue, weak digestion, and a tendency to bloat after meals

Early feverish cold with chilliness and dry skin, wanting to be warmed and to sweat

Overview. Purple angelica is a tall, robust perennial of the carrot family native to wet meadows, riverbanks, and swamps of eastern and northeastern North America, recognizable by its dark purple stems and large umbels of greenish white flowers. The aromatic root, and to a lesser extent the seed, was used extensively by nineteenth century American eclectic physicians as a warming digestive and diaphoretic, standing in for the closely related European angelica where the native plant was more readily at hand. It holds a modest but well established place in North American herbal practice as a carminative and circulatory stimulant for cold, sluggish constitutions.

Clinical Notes. Purple angelica root is reached for in the person whose digestion is slow and gassy in a cold, damp sort of way: bloating that comes on after eating, a tendency to feel chilled, and little appetite. A short infusion or small dose of tincture before meals often eases this picture better than a purely bitter tonic would, because the aromatic pungency here also moves stagnant gas and warms peripheral circulation.