Angelica genuflexa Nutt. ex Torr. & A. Gray

Herbs 0.5–2 m high. Rhizome vertical, 1–1.5 cm thick. Petioles 3–8 cm, sheaths inflated; blade ovate to triangular, 10–40 cm, 1–2-ternate-pinnate, rachis and petiolules often geniculate; leaflets subsessile, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 5–13 × 1–6 cm, margin coarsely mucronulate-serrate, apex acuminate, hispidulous. Peduncles 20–30 cm, hispidulous; bracts absent; rays 20–40, 5–8 cm, unequal; bracteoles many, linear, 11–20 mm, hispidulous; pedicels 5–15 mm. Petals white, ovate, puberulent. Ovary hispidulous. Fruit suborbicular, 4–8 × 3.6–6 mm, pubescent or glabrous; dorsal ribs acute-prominent, lateral ribs broad-winged; vittae 1 in each furrow, 2 on commissure. Fl. and fr. Jul–Sep.

Liaoning [Japan, Russia (Siberia); North America].

Forests; 200–300 m.

Angelica genuflexa Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. N. Am. 1: 620. 1840
Angelica refracta F. Schmidt, Mem. Acad. St.-Petersb. VII. 12 2 : 138. 1868.
Stout, 4-18 dm. high, the foliage glabrous to somewhat scaberulous, the inflorescence hispidulous to pilose; leaves ovate to deltoid in general outline, excluding the petioles 1.5-3 dm. long, ternate-pinnate or biternate, the main divisions frequently reflexed and the rachis geniculate, the leaflets broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute to acuminate, sessile or petiolulate, 4—10 cm. long, 2-6 cm. broad, coarsely serrate to incised; petioles stout, 1-6 dm. long, sheathing at the base; cauline leaves similar, the sheaths conspicuously dilated and often bladeless, the uppermost petioles wholly sheathing; peduncles stout, 1-3 dm. long; involucre wanting; involucel of numerous linear to filiform, hispidulous bractlets, 5-10 mm. long, about equaling the flowers; rays numerous, 22-45, spreading-ascending, unequal, 2-7 cm. long; pedicels 5-15 mm. long, spreading-ascending, inconspicuously webbed; flowers white or pinkish, the petals oval, glabrous; ovaries hispidulous; stylopodium conic; fruit nearly orbicular, 3-4 mm. long, glabrous, the dorsal ribs filiform to narrowly winged, the lateral broader than the dorsal and about equaling the body; oil-tubes solitary in the intervals, 2 on the commissure; seed-face slightly concave.
Type locality: "Wappatoo Island, Oregon, and near Fort Vancouver, Washington," Nuttall, Distribution: Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, south to northern California; Siberia, Sakhalin, and the Kurile Islands. (Leiberg 701, Thompson 426, 11,196, Elmer 2765.)

Angelica genuflexa is a species of angelica known as kneeling angelica. It is native to northwestern North America from Alaska to northern California, where it grows in moist areas in coniferous forests such as streambanks. This is a taprooted perennial herb producing an erect, hollow stem to heights between 1 and 2 meters. The leaves are up to 80 centimeters long and are made up of many dissected, toothed leaflets, each up to 10 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a compound umbel of up to 50 rays bearing clusters of small flowers.