Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia absinthium

Artemisia tilesii

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

Aleutian mugwort, Cascade wormwood, Tilesius' wormwood
Habit Perennials, 40–60(–100) cm (mat-forming), aromatic. Perennials, 20–60(–80) cm, mildly aromatic (rhizomes coarse).
Stems

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

1–3, erect, white, tomentose (on distal branches, hairs appressed) 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 and cauline, bicolor (white and green);

blades (basal) linear to broadly lanceolate, 3–7(–10) × 2–5(–6) cm, coarsely pinnately lobed (cauline becoming linear distally), faces tomentose (abaxial) or glabrous (adaxial).
Involucres

broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm.

broadly campanulate, 4–5 × 3.5–4 mm.
Florets

pistillate 9–20;

bisexual 30–50;

corollas 1–2 mm, glandular.

pistillate 9;

bisexual 25–60;

corollas yellow, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous (style branches included, erect, linear, relatively short, short-ciliate).
Phyllaries

gray-green, densely sericeous.

(violet-brown) oval (outer) to elliptic or lanceolate, sparsely tomentose.
Heads

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

in compact to broadly branched, paniculiform arrays 1–20 × 2–6 cm.
Cypselae

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

oblong-linear (angular), 1.2–1.5 mm, glabrous.
2n

= 18.

= 18, 36.

Artemisia absinthium

Artemisia tilesii
Phenology Flowering mid summer–fall. Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Widely cultivated, persisting from plantings, disturbed areas Arctic and alpine tundra, sandy, rocky slopes near shorelines
Elevation 0–1000 m [0–3300 ft] 0–2000 m [0–6600 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
AK; ID; MT; OR; WA; AB; BC; MB; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Asia (Russia)
[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 tilesii has a bewildering array of variation in leaf and inflorescence morphology that has been separated into four infraspecific taxa recognized in some floras. I am unable to separate these taxa consistently and am including them within a broad circumscription of the species.

(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. 533. 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. 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. tridentata, A. tripartita, A. vulgaris
Synonyms A. hookeriana, A. hultenii, A. tilesii var. aleutica, A. tilesii var. elatior, A. tilesii subsp. gormanii, A. tilesii subsp. hultenii, A. tilesii var. unalaschcensis, A. unalaskensis var. aleutica, A. vulgaris subsp. tilesii
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753) Ledebour: Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Pétersbourg Hist. Acad. 5: 568. (1814)
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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