Du Huo

Angelica pubescens (Du Huo, pubescent angelica) is a robust perennial herb in the Apiaceae family, growing 1 to 2 meters tall from a stout, fleshy, conical taproot 10 to 30 centimeters long, externally grayish-brown with prominent ringed scars and short rootlets, internally pale yellowish with brownish oil canals visible on cross section. The hollow purple-tinged stems are erect, finely pubescent in the upper portion, and bear large bi- to tri-pinnately compound leaves 30 to 50 centimeters long with broadly ovate ultimate leaflets coarsely serrate at the margins; the leaf sheaths are conspicuously inflated. From mid to late summer, large compound umbels 10 to 20 centimeters across bear numerous small white flowers. The schizocarp fruits are oblong-elliptic, 6 to 8 millimeters long, with broadly winged lateral ribs. Native to central China, particularly Sichuan, Hubei, and Anhui provinces, growing on damp shaded slopes and in forest understory. The aromatic, sweet-bitter roots are harvested in autumn and dried.