The role of Chinese herbal medicine Angelica dahurica

The world is full of wonders. There are many things in nature waiting for us to discover. Nature is wonderful. There are many things in nature that are closely related to our lives. Some things that grow in nature can be eaten by us or played with by us. There are also many things in nature that can cure diseases, such as: therapy, ginseng, etc. There is a Chinese medicinal herb I know of, called Angelica dahurica. Angelica dahurica is a kind of thing that looks like fruit wood.

Perennial tall herb, 1-2.5 meters high. The root is cylindrical, branched, 3-5 cm in diameter, with a yellowish brown to brown outer skin and a strong odor. The stem base is 2-5 cm in diameter, sometimes up to 7-8 cm, usually purple, hollow, and with longitudinal grooves.

The basal leaves are pinnately divided once, with long petioles, and the lower part of the petioles has a tubular, clasping, membranous sheath on the edge; the leaves on the upper stem are pinnately divided twice to three times, with the leaf blade outline being ovate to triangular, 15-30 cm long, 10-25 cm wide, and the petioles are up to 15 cm long, with a cystic, swollen, membranous sheath at the lower part, glabrous or with sparse hairs, often with purple; the terminal lobes are oblong, ovate or linear-lanceolate, mostly sessile, 2.5-7 cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide, acute, with irregular white cartilaginous coarse serrations on the edges, with short tips, and the base is often unequal on both sides, extending downward along the rachis into a wing-like shape; the leaves below the inflorescence are simplified into leafless, significantly swollen cystic sheaths, glabrous on the outside.

The compound umbel is terminal or lateral, 10-30 cm in diameter, with peduncles 5-20 cm long, peduncles, rays and petioles all with short rough hairs; rays 18-40, central main umbel sometimes with as many as 70 rays; involucral bracts usually absent or with 1-2, growing into ovate and swollen sheaths; involucral bracteoles 5-10+, linear-lanceolate, membranous, white flowers; no calyx teeth; petals obovate, with apex curved inward into a concave head; ovary glabrous or with short hairs; style twice as long as the short conical stylopodium.

The fruit is oblong to oval, yellow-brown, sometimes purple, 4-7 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, glabrous, with a flat dorsal rib, thick and obtuse, nearly spongy, wider than the furrow, and wing-shaped lateral ribs, narrower than the fruit body; there is 1 oil tube in the furrow and 2 oil tubes on the commissure. The flowering period is July-August, and the fruiting period is August-September.

(Taiwan Plant List) Wild Angelica (Taiwan Flora), Dabenshan Celery (Taiwan Plant List)

This variety differs from A. dahurica in that the fruit and seeds are hairy, but the ovary and fruit on the lower branches are glabrous or have very few hairs. It is a specialty of northern Taiwan, China.

In China, A. formosana was once called Zhejiang Duhuo and was considered to be the original plant of the traditional Chinese medicine Angelica dahurica. Angelica dahurica is a long-term cultivated plant and has not been found in the wild in Zhejiang and other provinces. Whether it is this species needs further research.

Angelica dahurica (variant)

This species has basically the same plant morphology as Angelica dahurica, but the plant is 1-1.5 meters tall. The stems and leaf sheaths are mostly yellow-green. The root is oblong-conical, nearly square at the top, gray-brown on the surface, with many large lenticel-like transverse protrusions arranged in several longitudinal rows, hard and heavy, white in cross section, and very powdery.

It is cultivated in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui and some southern provinces and regions. It is a famous and commonly used Chinese medicine. It is mainly produced in Sichuan and Zhejiang, sold nationwide and exported. The seeds of Sichuan Angelica dahurica or Hangzhou Angelica dahurica cultivated in various places are mostly introduced from Sichuan or Hangzhou.

The root is used as medicine to dispel wind, disperse dampness, discharge pus, promote tissue regeneration and relieve pain. It is mainly used to treat colds, forehead headaches, sinusitis, toothaches, hemorrhoids, bloody stools, leucorrhea, carbuncles, boils, swellings and poisons, burns and other symptoms.

Angelica dahurica has various effects. It has anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, analgesic, antispasmodic and antibacterial effects. Angelica dahurica also has another positive meaning. He represents the 5,000-year history of the Chinese people. It is the essence of Chinese culture and a symbol of the people themselves.