October 23 | Plant of the week Part XVI

A banquet table for insects

The umbelliferous plants (Apiaceae) are still scarce to see  in gardens. On the one hand, it is because they are simply dismissed as wild chervil, which is commonly known and on the other hand, they have come into disrepute due to the large giant hogweed. Which has become famous as an invasive neophyte. This plant family is one of the most important for animals and humans. They are usually valuable fodder plants and seem to be a banquet table for insects of all kinds. They can be wonderfully incorporated into meadow-like plantings in terms of design. They are currently gaining some importance due to the naturalistic use of plants. The Alpinum Schatzalp houses a very large range of Apiaceae. This also applies to some Angelica, which may remind some people of giant hogweed and are wrongly dismissed as such. But be careful, the family also harbors one or two poisonous species. Here you can see a photo of a short-lived, 2-year-old species from eastern Siberia and northern China, Angelica gigas. It is not phototoxic and impresses with beautiful dark red inflorescences. It is a plant for fresh and wet locations.