Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia absinthium

Artemisia franserioides

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

bursage mugwort, ragweed sagebrush
Habit Perennials, 40–60(–100) cm (mat-forming), aromatic. Biennials or perennials, 30–100 cm, faintly aromatic (rhizomatous).
Stems

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

1–3, erect, reddish brown, simple (leafy), glabrous or glabrate.
Leaves

deciduous, gray-green;

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

basal (in rosettes, petiolate) and cauline, bicolor (white and green);

blades ovate, 3–7(–20) × 2–4(–6) cm, 2–3-pinnately-lobed (lobes elliptic, 2–6 mm wide; cauline sessile, smaller), faces tomentose (abaxial) or glabrous or glabrescent (adaxial), glandular.
Involucres

broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm.

broadly ovate, 3–5 × 4–5(–6) mm.
Florets

pistillate 9–20;

bisexual 30–50;

corollas 1–2 mm, glandular.

pistillate 4–5(–13), (1–1.5 mm);

bisexual 25–35;

corollas yellow, 1.5–2 mm, glabrous.
Phyllaries

gray-green, densely sericeous.

broadly ovate, sparsely hairy.
Heads

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

(nodding, peduncles 0 or 2) in paniculiform to racemiform arrays 10–35 × 2–4 cm (often 1-sided).
Cypselae

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

elliptic, 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous.
2n

= 18.

Artemisia absinthium

Artemisia franserioides
Phenology Flowering mid summer–fall. Flowering late summer–early fall.
Habitat Widely cultivated, persisting from plantings, disturbed areas Open coniferous forests, mid to upper montane
Elevation 0–1000 m [0–3300 ft] 2200–3100 m [7200–10200 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
AZ; CO; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[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. Treatment author: Leila M. Shultz. FNA vol. 19, p. 525. 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. douglasiana, A. dracunculus, A. filifolia, 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) Greene: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 10: 42. (1883)
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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