The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

absinth wormwood, absinthe, absinthe wormwood, absinthium, armoise absinthe, common wormwood, green ginger, oldman, oldman wormwood, wormwood

California mugwort, Douglas' mugwort, Douglas' sagewort, Douglas' wormwood, mugwort, northwest mugwort

Habit Perennials, 40–60(–100) cm (mat-forming), aromatic. Perennials, 50–180(–250) cm, aromatic (rhizomatous).
Stems

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

1–20, erect, brown to gray-green, simple, hairy or glabrescent.

Leaves

deciduous, gray-green;

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

cauline, bicolor (white and green to light gray-green);

blades narrowly elliptic to widely oblanceolate, (1–)3–11(–15) × 0.5–2(–6) cm (proximal with 3–5 lateral lobes, distal mostly entire), faces sparsely tomentose (abaxial) to sparsely hairy (adaxial).

Involucres

broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm.

narrowly turbinate to campanulate, 2–3 × 2–4 mm.

Florets

pistillate 9–20;

bisexual 30–50;

corollas 1–2 mm, glandular.

pistillate 6–10;

bisexual 6–25;

corollas pale yellow, 1–1.5 mm, glabrous, sometimes glandular.

Phyllaries

gray-green, densely sericeous.

(green to gray) ovate, tomentose to pubescent.

Heads

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

(usually nodding) in (leafy) paniculiform arrays 10–30 × 3–9 cm (branches widely spreading, ascending, stout).

Cypselae

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

ellipsoid, 0.5–1 mm, glabrous.

2n

= 18.

= 54.

Artemisia absinthium

Artemisia douglasiana

Phenology Flowering mid summer–fall. Flowering mid spring–late fall.
Habitat Widely cultivated, persisting from plantings, disturbed areas Meadows, shaded sites, along drainages
Elevation 0–1000 m [0–3300 ft] 100–2200 m [300–7200 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]
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[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.)

Artemisia douglasiana is sometimes weedy. Reports from areas outside the northwestern portion of the United States are based on misidentifications of plants in the A. ludoviciana complex.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 519. Treatment author: Leila M. Shultz. FNA vol. 19, p. 524. Treatment author: Leila M. Shultz.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Absinthium Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia
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
A. abrotanum, A. absinthium, A. alaskana, A. aleutica, A. annua, A. arbuscula, A. biennis, A. bigelovii, A. borealis, A. californica, A. campestris, A. cana, A. carruthii, 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
Synonyms A. campestris var. douglasiana, A. caudata var. douglasiana, A. commutata var. douglasiana, A. desertorum var. douglasiana, A. heterophylla, A. ludoviciana var. douglasiana, A. vulgaris var. douglasiana
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753) Besser: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 323. (1833)
Web links