Artemisia absinthium
Artemisia longifolia
absinth wormwood, absinthe, absinthe wormwood, absinthium, armoise absinthe, common wormwood, green ginger, oldman, oldman wormwood, wormwood
long-leaf sage, longleaf sagebrush, longleaf wormwood
gray-green (sometimes woody proximally), densely canescent to glabrescent (hairs appressed).
3–20+, erect, gray-green, usually simple, sometimes branched (bases woody), densely tomentose.
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);
blades linear to lanceolate, 3–12 × 1 cm, margins usually entire, sometimes toothed or lobed, faces densely tomentose (abaxial) or glabrate (adaxial).
broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm.
campanulate, 4–5 × 4–5 mm.
pistillate 9–20;
bisexual 30–50;
corollas 1–2 mm, glandular.
pistillate 3–10;
bisexual 8–26;
corollas pale yellow, 1–2 mm, sparsely glandular.
gray-green, densely sericeous.
ovate-lanceolate (margins hyaline), densely to sparsely tomentose.
(nodding) in open (diffusely branched), paniculiform arrays 10–20(–35) × (2–)10–13(–15) cm.
(peduncles 0 or to 2 mm) in mostly racemiform arrays 8–13 × 1–2 cm.
(± cylindric, slightly curved, obscurely nerved), ± 0.5 mm, glabrous (shiny).
ellipsoid, 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous.
= 18.
= 36.
Artemisia absinthium
Artemisia longifolia
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 longifolia appears to be more salt-tolerant than most species of the genus. It is closely related to A. ludoviciana.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
