Angelica biserrata (Shan Renhwa & C. Q. Yuan) C. Q. Yuan & Shan Renhwa

The roots are widely used as the important traditional Chinese medicine “du huo,” especially as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory in the treatment of rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis.

Plants perennial, 1–2 m, stout. Root cylindric, brown, up to 15 × 1–2.5 cm, aromatic. Stem purplish green, up to 1.5 cm thick, thinly ribbed, hispid above. Basal and lower leaves petiolate, petioles 30–50 cm, sheaths oblong, inflated, 5–7 cm, glabrous or slightly pubescent abaxially; blade broad-ovate, 20–30(–40) × 15–25 cm, 2-ternate-pinnate; leaflets ovate-long-elliptic, 5.5–18 × 3–6.5 cm, base often decurrent along rachis, margin irregularly cuspidate-biserrate, apex acuminate, pubescent along nerves and margin. Peduncles 5–16(–20) cm, densely hispidulous; bracts 1, long-subulate, ciliate, deciduous; rays 10–25, 1.5–5 cm, densely hispidulous; bracteoles 5–10, broad-lanceolate, apex long-cuspidate, ciliate, pubescent abaxially; umbellules 17–28(–36)-flowered. Calyx teeth obsolete. Petals white, obovate. Styles conspicuously elongate, reflexed in fruit. Fruit ellipsoid, 6–8 × 3–5 mm; dorsal ribs prominent, lateral ribs broad-winged; vittae 2–3 in each furrow, 2–4(–6) on commissure. Fl. Aug–Sep, fr. Sep–Oct. n = 11*.

Anhui, Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang.

Sparse shrubby thickets, damp slopes; 1000–1700 m.