Angelica pachycarpa
Environmental Weed (2024)
Common names
angelica
Family
Apiaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
ANGPAC
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial. Mainly coastal, waste places.
Detailed description
Stout fleshy short-lived perennial up to 1m tall with faint aniseed odour. The stems are hollow and grooved. Leaves are dark green and glossy, and are variable in shape. Basal leaves are 2-3 pinnate and with an obvious petiole. Stem leaves are 1-3 pinnate and with much shorter petiole. Numerous greenish white flowers are held in flat-toped umbels 10-20 cm diameter. The fruit are up to 12 mm long, brown with lighter coloured wings.
Similar taxa
Can be confused with A. archangelica, the true herbal angelica. But A. pachycarpa has darker leaves, is much smaller, lacks the very strong aroma and the umbels are flat rather than rounded.
Flowering
November, December, January
Flower colours
Green, White
Life cycle
Disperse by humans, wind, water.
Year naturalised
1978
Origin
N.W. Spain, W. Portugal
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
Tolerances
Tolerant of very dry sites including salt-spray.
Etymology
angelica: From the Latin angelus ‘angel’, referring to the healing properties of this genus
Environmental Weed (2024)
This plant is named in a list of 386 environmental weeds in New Zealand 2024 prepared by DOC. 759 candidate species were considered for inclusion on this new comprehensive list of environmental weeds in New Zealand. The species considered were drawn from published lists of weed species, lists of plants that must be reported or managed by law if observed, existing national and regional programmes and agreements for pest management, and species already managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Candidate species were then assessed to see if they were fully naturalised and whether they have more than minor impacts in natural ecosystems. Read the full report here.