Chinese angelica
A cultivated species in the genus Angelica of the family Apiaceae, scientific name Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels., a 2- to 3-year-old herbaceous plant. Because it can regulate qi and nourish blood, causing qi and blood to each return to its proper place, it is named Chinese angelica. Ancient names include Gangui, Bi, and Shanqi; alternative names include Qingui and Yungui. The root is used medicinally. It is mainly produced in Gansu and Yunnan provinces, China, and is also produced in Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei, and Guizhou provinces. A plant of the same genus is A. acutiloba (Sieb. et Zucc.) Kitag., also known as Yanbian angelica, which is also used as Chinese angelica medicinally in some areas.
The Chinese angelica plant is 0.4-1 m tall. The main root is thick and short, cylindrical with many branches; in the first and second years there are only clustered leaves, and the leaves are 2-3 times odd-pinnately compound, with 3 pairs of leaflets, ovate, with incisions, and the leaf sheaths are swollen. In the third year it bolts erect, tinged with purple. The compound umbel is terminal, with 5 petals, white. The schizocarp is elliptical; the flowering period is from July to August, and the fruiting period is from August to September. The schizocarp is elliptical. The flowering period is from July to August, and the fruiting period is from August to September. It is a low-temperature long-day crop, suitable for cold, cool climates at high altitude.
For seedling raising, choose cool and moist high mountain slopes. Sow in June, at 60-75 kg per hectare, broadcast sowing, cover the seedbed with grass, remove the covering grass in early August, weed 1-2 times, dig up the seedlings in early October, tie them in bundles, and store them in piles or pits. The planting site should be deeply plowed in autumn, and sufficient base fertilizer applied. Before planting in April of the following year, plow and harrow level, open holes at a row and plant spacing of 25-35 cm, plant 2-3 plants per hole, and cover with 2-4 cm of soil. At lower altitudes, sow directly in early August; after emergence, pay attention to weeding, loosening the soil, topdressing 1-2 times, and earthing up. Pests and diseases include root rot Fusarium sp., brown spot Septoria sp.; peach powdery aphid, yellow swallowtail Papilio machaon, seed maggot Hylemyia platura, etc.
Sweet and pungent in taste, warm in nature. It has the functions of nourishing blood, harmonizing blood, regulating menstruation and relieving pain, moistening dryness, and moistening the intestines. It mainly treats blood deficiency, irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, abdominal masses, abnormal uterine bleeding, postpartum abdominal pain, dry intestines and constipation, traumatic injuries, carbuncles, sores, and ulcers.