Angelica
sinensis (Oliv.) Diels
Standardized Common Name: Dong Quai
Other Common Names: Chinese Angelica,
Danggui, Tang Kuei
Family: Apiaceae
(Umbelliferae)
Taxonomy: Angelica
includes about 100 species, mostly native to temperate regions of the Northern
Hemisphere, several of which have culinary and medicinal uses. Angelica
sinensis is one of over 40 species native to China. The basionym is A.
polymorpha Maxim. var. sinensis Oliv.; it was originally described
as a variety of A. polymorpha, but is now treated as a separate species.
Description: Perennial herb,
0.5–1.5 m high, with a branching taproot; stems branching, purplish. Leaves
basal and alternate, 10–30 cm long, 2–3-ternate-pinnately compound or the
uppermost 1-pinnate, petiolate with swollen sheathing petioles; ultimate
leaflets ovate to narrowly ovate, 2–4(–6) cm long; bases tapering; margins
irregularly serrate to dentate with broad teeth, frequently incised or deeply
lobed; apices of teeth obtuse and minutely apiculate or mucronulate.
Inflorescences terminal and lateral compound umbels, sometimes subtended by 1
or 2 linear bracts; main rays 10–40, 2–10 cm long, unequal in length within a
single umbel; each umbellet with (12–)20 or more flowers, subtended by 2 to
several linear bracteoles. Flowers small, white, 5-petaled. Fruit of 2
mericarps; mericarps 4–6 mm long, elliptical to suborbicular, dorsally
compressed, with prominent ribs; lateral ribs form wings often wider than body
of fruit.
Parts
in Commerce:
Root with rhizome
Identification:
- Tapering
taproot, 15–25 cm long, producing 3 to several branches below
- Rootstock
1.5–4 cm in diameter; main root thick and lumpy; root branches to 1 cm in
diameter, tapering, the lower portions thin and twisted with a few rootlet
scars
- Apex
of rootstock bearing circular scars and purple or pale green remains of stems
and petioles
- Bark
yellowish-brown to brown, longitudinally wrinkled, with transversely elongated
lenticels
- Texture
soft and flexible (woody roots are not used)
- Fracture
yellowish-white to yellowish-brown (roots with a greenish brown interior are
not used)
- Root
in cross-section has several-layered cork; narrow cortex and broad ring of
phloem with small brown secretory cavities; yellowish-brown cambial line;
cylinder of multiradiate xylem, paler than outer tissues (rootstock will also
have a pith)
- Odor
strong, aromatic
- Taste
pungent, sweet and slightly bitter
Levisticum
officinale
W.D.J. Koch
(Lovage), a culinary and medicinal European umbel which resembles certain Angelica
species, is very similar to A. sinensis in chemical content and might be
substituted for it. The outer cork is grayish brown to dark reddish brown, and
the fractured surface yellow to nearly white. The inner bark is somewhat
porous, containing irregular circles of orangish secretory cavities, whitish to
the outside but ranging from yellow to reddish brown near the cambium,
sometimes giving the appearance of a diffuse red-brown band surrounding the
irregular yellow xylem. It has a characteristic odor, similar to celery, and a
sweetish taste with an unpleasant burning aftertaste. The texture is very soft,
described as wax-like or spongy.
References:
British Herbal Medicine Association.
British Herbal
Pharmacopoeia. BHMA; 1996:123–124. [For Levisticum.]
Hiroe M. Umbelliferae of Asia (Excluding Japan).
Kyoto, Japan: Botanical Institute, Kyoto University, and Maruzen Co., Ltd.;
1958.
Pharmacopoeia Commission
of PRC, eds. Pharmacopoeia of the People’s Republic of China, English ed., vol. 1. Beijing: Chemical
Industry Press; 1997:138–139.
Wichtl M, ed. Herbal Drugs and
Phytopharmaceuticals, 3rd English
ed. Stuttgart: medpharm Scientific Publishers and Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press;
2004:335–337. [For Levisticum.]
World Health
Organization. WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants. Vol. 2. Geneva: World Health Organization;
1999–2002:25–34.