Angelica.
Angelica.
A LARGE and beautiful plant kept in our gardens, and found wild in some parts of the kingdom. It grows to eight feet in height, and the stalks robust, and divided into branches. The leaves are large, and composed each of many smaller, set upon a divided pedicle; they are notched at the edges, and of a bright green. The flowers are small, but they stand in vast clusters, of a globose form: two seeds follow each flower.
Every part of the plant is fragrant when bruised, and every part of it is used in medicine. The root is long and large: we use that of our own growth fresh, but the fine fragrant dried roots are brought from Spain. The whole plant possesses the same virtues, and is cordial and sudorific; it has been always famous against pestilential and contagious diseases. The root, the stalks candied, the seeds bruised, or the water distilled from the leaves, may be used, but the seeds are the most powerful. It is also an ingredient in many compositions.
