Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia absinthium

absinth wormwood, absinthe, absinthe wormwood, absinthium, armoise absinthe, common wormwood, green ginger, oldman, oldman wormwood, wormwood
Habit Perennials, 40–60(–100) cm (mat-forming), aromatic.
Stems

gray-green (sometimes woody proximally), densely canescent to glabrescent (hairs appressed).
Leaves

deciduous, gray-green;

blades broadly ovate, 3–8 × 1–4 cm, mostly pinnately lobed (basal 2–3-pinnatifid, lobes obovate), faces densely canescent.
Involucres

broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm.
Florets

pistillate 9–20;

bisexual 30–50;

corollas 1–2 mm, glandular.
Phyllaries

gray-green, densely sericeous.
Heads

(nodding) in open (diffusely branched), paniculiform arrays 10–20(–35) × (2–)10–13(–15) cm.
Cypselae

(± cylindric, slightly curved, obscurely nerved), ± 0.5 mm, glabrous (shiny).
2n

= 18.

Artemisia absinthium
Phenology Flowering mid summer–fall.
Habitat Widely cultivated, persisting from plantings, disturbed areas
Elevation 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Artemisia absinthium provides the flavoring as well as the psychoactive ingredient for absinthe liquor, a beverage that is illegal in some markets. Known as a powerful neurotoxin, absinthe in large quantities is addictive as well as deadly. The species is popular in the horticultural trade. Prized by gardeners for its gracefully scalloped leaves and gray-green foliage, it creates an attractive and winter-hardy flower border.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 519.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Absinthium
Sibling taxa
A. abrotanum, A. alaskana, A. aleutica, A. annua, A. arbuscula, A. biennis, A. bigelovii, A. borealis, A. californica, A. campestris, A. cana, A. carruthii, A. douglasiana, A. dracunculus, A. filifolia, A. franserioides, A. frigida, A. furcata, A. globularia, A. glomerata, A. laciniata, A. longifolia, A. ludoviciana, A. michauxiana, A. nesiotica, A. norvegica, A. nova, A. packardiae, A. palmeri, A. papposa, A. pattersonii, A. pedatifida, A. pontica, A. porteri, A. pycnocephala, A. pygmaea, A. rigida, A. rothrockii, A. rupestris, A. scopulorum, A. senjavinensis, A. serrata, A. spiciformis, A. stelleriana, A. suksdorfii, A. tilesii, A. tridentata, A. tripartita, A. vulgaris
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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