Artemisia absinthium |
Artemisia douglasiana |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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]
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CA; NV; OR; WA
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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. | FNA vol. 19, p. 524. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
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) |
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