Angelica - Green and Purple Stems

[rscott74]

I've been puzzled for a while by what I assume is Angelica appearing with green or purple stems. Both are common with green more so. The images below are of two plants only around 30cms apart. Is there any difference, apart from colour, and is there an explanation for the difference?

Purple plant






Green plant

[Uncle_Filthster]

Both plants are hogweed and it can be quite variable.
Sun/shade acclimation can cause several morphological differences in plants such as leaf size and shape, plant size and colouring. Plants in shade tend to be greener as they produce more chlorophyll in relation to carotenoids due to filtering of the colour spectrum. Plants in full sun often have more carotenoids as they can utilise the full spectrum and carotenoids can also provide some protection from the sun. That's how if you look at something like a copper beech or Berberis the lower leaves in the shade are often green.

[rscott74]

Thanks for the information. I got the basic ID wrong which didn't help!
Hogweed , as I now know it is, is everywhere at present only outdone by Cow Parsley.
I fell into the trap of looking at illustrations in 'Wild Flower Key' which show Angelica with a purple stem. I should have looked more closely at the book as the Hogweed petals are notched to the point of being almost horseshoe shaped which are shown in the images. I really should be more careful but it's nice to know that folk on the forum are willing and able to keep me right.

[Bub-les]

Agree with what Uncle_Filthster says, definitely hogweed.
Umbellifera can be a real pain to ID!
Barbara

[Uncle_Filthster]

Indeed they can be a pain but when you see angelica in the flesh you will never forget what it looks like. It's just so big and fleshy looking