Angelica appears to have first come into use as a spice plant during the 15. century,1) and was no doubt first used for the preparation of the distilled angelica water, the preparation of which is described in Brunschwig's2) and in later treatises on distillation.

The distilled oil of the roots was not prepared until the second half of the 16. century and is first mentioned in the price ordinance of Frankfurt in 1582 and in the Dispensatorium No-ricum of 1589.

Oil of angelica root was investigated by L. A. Buchner3) in 1842, by F. Beilstein and E. Wiegand in 1882,4) by L. Naudin in 1883,5) and by G. Ciamician and P. Silber in 1896.6)