Dahurian Angelica

Angelica dahurica

Also known as Bai Zhi, Chinese Angelica, Bai Ji, Fragrant Angelica

At a glance

Family

Apiaceae (the carrot family)

Type

Herbaceous perennial (often grown as a biennial)

Parts used

Root

Size

3 to 8 feet tall, with hollow, purplish stems

Bloom

Summer, small white flowers gathered into broad, umbrella-shaped umbels

Habitat

Riverbanks, damp meadows, and forest edges across northern China, Japan, Korea, and Siberia

Acquisition

Grow or buy

This plant in HerbSense

Key benefits

✦

Traditionally eases sinus congestion

Used for headache and toothache

Supports bright, clear skin

Traditionally clears damp, foggy heaviness

Traditional uses

✦

Known in traditional Chinese medicine as Bai Zhi, meaning white root, this herb has been counted among the essential materia medica for nearly two thousand years, first recorded in texts like the Shennong Bencao Jing. Practitioners traditionally reached for it to clear frontal headaches, stuffy sinuses, and toothache, and to address the kind of dull, damp heaviness that settles behind the eyes and across the forehead. Just as often, it found its way into face powders and washes, prized for centuries as a beauty root said to brighten the complexion and soften blemishes. It remains one of the most recognizable roots on any traditional apothecary shelf, its pale, fragrant slices instantly familiar to anyone who has browsed a Chinese herb shop.

How to grow & use it

✦

🔒

The full apothecary for Dahurian Angelica

Traditional remedies and step-by-step preparations, a complete growing guide, and how to harvest, dry, and store it, all unlocked with HerbLens Unlimited.

✦Remedies & preparations
✦ Growing guide
✦Harvest & storage

Unlock every plant

From under $6 a month. Free plant identifications always included.

Pairs well with

✦Saposhnikovia (Fang Feng)
✦Ligusticum (Chuan Xiong)
✦Magnolia flower (Xin Yi Hua)

Substitutes

✦Angelica archangelica (Garden Angelica)
✦Angelica sinensis (Dong Quai)

Choose it when

“When a damp fog settles behind the eyes and the nose simply will not clear.”

Did you know?

Bai Zhi is one of the fifty fundamental herbs of traditional Chinese medicine, a shortlist so central that generations of apprentice herbalists were expected to memorize it before touching anything else on the shelf.

Safety

The root contains furanocoumarins that can make skin much more sensitive to sunlight, so avoid sun exposure after topical use, and it may affect blood clotting, so use caution with blood-thinning medication. It has traditionally been avoided during pregnancy. As a carrot-family plant with dangerously toxic look-alikes like poison hemlock and water hemlock, use only root from a properly identified source, never casually foraged.