Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris) is common throughout the British Isles and is normally found in damp woodland, roadside ditches or bogs and marshes. The edible angelica, often made into sweets, is a different species (Angelica archangelica).

It is a member of the parsley family, recognised by a solid stem growing to 2 metres high. The stalks are often purplish, branching and ridged, it has a dense umbel of small white flowers, which are seen from July to September.

The plant has a sweet and aromatic flavour and has been used in cooking for centuries. It is also an ingredient in Chartreuse and Vermouth.

It was believed in ancient times to protect against the bubonic plague. It was worn as a charm after an archangel revealed its properties to an unnamed missionary. Luckily, it could be found in London at the time of the great plague around 1665, and it was often found at Lincoln's Inn Fields.

It is meant to bloom by tradition on the Feast of the Apparition of St Michael, which used to fall on 8 May. Wild Angelica is meant to provide protection against those which the Church saw as evil, such as witches and demons. It is also protective against the bite of mad dogs. Culpeper describes Angelica as a herb of the Holy Ghost, but then he also says that this is blasphemy!