Artemisia absinthium
Artemisia serrata
absinth wormwood, absinthe, absinthe wormwood, absinthium, armoise absinthe, common wormwood, green ginger, oldman, oldman wormwood, wormwood
sawtooth wormwood, serrate-leaf sage
gray-green (sometimes woody proximally), densely canescent to glabrescent (hairs appressed).
2–5, erect, brown, mostly simple (bases woody), sparsely 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 lanceolate, 7–15 × 1–2.5 cm, serrate (teeth ca. 2 mm), faces densely tomentose (abaxial) or glabrate (adaxial).
broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm.
campanulate, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm.
pistillate 9–20;
bisexual 30–50;
corollas 1–2 mm, glandular.
pistillate 3–5;
bisexual 9–10;
corollas pale yellow, 1.5–2 mm, sparsely glandular.
gray-green, densely sericeous.
lanceolate (margins hyaline), densely tomentose.
(nodding) in open (diffusely branched), paniculiform arrays 10–20(–35) × (2–)10–13(–15) cm.
(peduncles 0 or to 2 mm) in racemiform arrays 10–15 × 5–15 cm.
(± cylindric, slightly curved, obscurely nerved), ± 0.5 mm, glabrous (shiny).
ellipsoid, ca. 1 mm, glabrous.
= 18.
= 36.
Artemisia absinthium
Artemisia serrata
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 serrata is closely related to A. ludoviciana and A. longifolia; it is distinguished by its prominent, serrated leaf margins. It is apparently native to the upper Mississippi Valley and naturalized in New York, presumably following introduction as a garden plant. Reports from Kansas and Missouri may be based on collections of 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
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