Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
American Angelica is a tall wetland herb from eastern North America. Old American herbalists called it masterwort and used the root as a warming digestive bitter. Human evidence for any of its uses is close to none.
The plant grows in wet meadows, swamps and stream banks. It has a thick, hollow, deep purple stem and round heads of greenish white flowers. The root, the seed and the young stalk have all been used.
Long use in folk practice is not proof that a plant works. It is also not proof that a plant is safe. Both still have to be tested, and for this species that testing has not been done.
One hazard comes before everything else. Water hemlock grows in the same wet ground and looks similar to an untrained eye. People have died after eating it by mistake, so this plant should never be gathered from the wild.
No one has shown how American Angelica acts in the human body. The ideas below come from tradition and from lab work on related angelica species.
The root is bitter and strongly aromatic. Bitter plants can trigger saliva and stomach juices, which is a known effect for bitters as a group. Whether this species does that in any useful way has not been tested.
Its furanocoumarins (plant compounds that react with sunlight) are better understood. On skin, in people handling related plants, they can cause burns and blisters after sun exposure. That is a real, documented effect, and it is a harm rather than a benefit.
In test-tube work, furanocoumarins from angelica species can block a liver enzyme called CYP3A4, which breaks down many drugs. Grapefruit does something similar. Whether eating this root changes your drug levels is not known.
American Angelica is uncommon in shops. When sold, it is usually the dried root.
- Dried root, cut or powdered, brewed as a tea or decoction.
- Alcohol tincture, often blended into bitters formulas.
- Dried seed, used far less often.
- Capsules, which are rare for this species.
Essential oil on the market is almost always from Angelica archangelica, the European species. It is highly concentrated and is not a drinkable product.
Check the label for the full Latin name. Many products sold as angelica are a different plant entirely.
American Angelica held a steady place in nineteenth-century American practice. Eclectic physicians and folk healers listed it as a carminative (wind-easing), stimulant and sweat-promoting herb.
Eclectic texts such as King's American Dispensatory described the root for gas, colic and sluggish digestion. It was also named as an emmenagogue, meaning a herb thought to bring on menstrual flow. That belief is one reason it was avoided in pregnancy.
Several Native American nations used local angelica roots in their own ways, including in smoke and poultice preparations. Written records of this use are partial and were often filtered through settler observers.
The herb faded from mainstream use in the twentieth century. It was never studied the way a modern drug would be.
Stop taking it and call emergency services now if you have vomiting, muscle twitching, tremor or a seizure after eating any wild-picked plant. That can be water hemlock poisoning.
Stop and see a doctor the same week if you notice:
- Blistering or a bad burn on skin that was in the sun
- Swelling of the lips, face or throat, or trouble breathing
- Bruising or bleeding that is new or unusual
- Yellow skin or yellow eyes
- Stomach pain that keeps coming back
Also check with a pharmacist before starting if you take any daily prescription medicine.
In the United States it may be sold as a dietary supplement. It is not approved by the FDA to treat any disease.
In the UK and EU it falls under food supplement rules. Related angelica species are allowed as food flavourings. None of this means it has been tested for safety or effect.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
The published evidence for American Angelica is weak or absent. That usually means no controlled trial has tested it, not that a trial found it ineffective — the two are different, and we grade only what has been published.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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