Japanese angelica tree is a rapidly growing, woody deciduous, multistemmed large shrub or small tree in the ginseng family (Araliaceae). It is an invasive species in North Carolina that was introduced to the United States in 1830 from eastern Asia. Japanese angelica grows 8 to 20 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide and is difficult to control. The branches and trunk have sharp spines. The flowers should be cut in late summer as soon as they fade then bagged and trashed to avoid seed spread. Do not compost. If allowed to fruit, birds and small mammals will eat the fruits and spread the seeds. Its root suckering habit also contributes to its invasiveness. Simply mowing down the suckers will not control the spread and may stimulate more aggressive growth. Each sucker must be dug out to the point where it meets the main stem. Angelica can be easily confused with devil’s walking stick, a similar looking tree native to the eastern United States including North Carolina. One way to tell them apart is to look closely at the flower panicles. Angelica’s will often be shorter and more wide than long while those of the devil’s walking stick are often longer and more long than wide. Best to check with your local Extension office for a proper identification. Due to its aggressiveness, the angelica tree invades forest canopy gaps, forest edges, and right of ways. Please consider plants that fill a similar niche, which are listed to the left. Insects, Diseases and Other Plant Problems : Susceptible to leaf spots, aphids and mealybugs.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Often confused withAralia elata 'Aureovariegata'Aralia elata 'Variegata'Aralia spinosa
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; Loam (Silt); Sand; Shallow Rocky
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
6-feet-12 feet; 12-24 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 8 ft. 0 in. - 20 ft. 0 in. | Width: 6 ft. 0 in. - 10 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
High
Canopy layer
2 - Understory (15-40 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Multi-stemmed; Multi-trunked; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Compound (Pinnately , Bipinnately, Palmately)
Leaf arrangement
Alternate; Other/more complex
Leaf shape
Pinnatisect
Leaf margin
Dentate
Leaf feel
Smooth
Leaf value
Showy
Leaf size
3-6 inches long
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
This plant has 2-4 foot long tripinnately compound leaves with up to 80 leaflets. 3 to 5.5 inch leaflets with toothed to smooth margins and prominent center veins that go all the way to the tip of the left. There are spines in the leaf axis. Leaves turn yellow to reddish-purple for their fall color.
Fall color
Gold/Yellow; Purple/Lavender; Red/Burgundy
Flower color
Cream/Tan; White
Flower form
Panicle
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
This plant has 12 to 18 in. white to cream panicles of flowers that are not as tall as they are wide. Blooms from late July to August.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit color
Black; Purple/Lavender
Fruit type
Drupe
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
Purple to blackround drupes appear in summer and ripen into fall.
Bark detail
The bark has sharp thorns.
Stem detail
There are large spines on stems.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
Eastern Asia
Distribution
Russia, China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan