ARCHANGELICA OFFICINALIS.—GARDEN ANGELICA. History

This plant is a native of Northern Europe, but is also found further south, especially in high altitudes, as among the Alps and Pyrenees. Much of it is cultivated in Germany from whence the drug market is chiefly supplied. The cultivated variety is said to differ from the native species sufficiently for some botanists to classify it as a distinct species. Thus it has been known as Archangelica sativa, Fries (Angelica sativa, Miller). The root shculd be gathered in the first year’s autumn, as it is more likely to keep without becoming covered with mould. Its properties are in part abstracted by water, and fully by alcohol. It is highly valued as a domestic drug and condiment by the natives of Lapland where it is indigenous. The stems are preserved in Europe and employed as a food and gastric excitant. The fresh root when broken, emits an aromatic fluid having the appearance of honey. The warm infusion is an eligible form of administration.