Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia bigelovii

Artemisia stelleriana

Bigelow sage, Bigelow sagebrush, Bigelow sagewort, Bigelow's sage

armoise de Steller, beach wormwood, dusty miller, oldwoman, Steller's wormwood
Habit Shrubs, 20–40(–60) cm (branched from bases, rounded), mildly aromatic; not root-sprouting. Perennials, (15–)20–60(–70) cm (mat-forming), sometimes faintly aromatic (rhizomes creeping, relatively thin).
Stems

silvery, canescent (bark gray-brown).

1–3, erect or ascending, white, simple (stout), densely tomentose to floccose.
Leaves

persistent, light gray-green;

blades narrowly cuneate, 0.5–3 × 0.2–0.5 cm, entire or 3(–5)-lobed (lobes 1.5–2 mm, less than 1/3 blade lengths, acute), faces silvery canescent.

basal and cauline (petiolate), silver-gray;

blades oblanceolate, (proximalmost) 3–10 × 1–5 cm, pinnatifid (lobes relatively broad, rounded; distal leaves, on flowering stems, smaller), faces densely tomentose.
Involucres

globose, 2–3 × 1.5–2.5 mm.

broadly campanulate, 5–8 × 6–7 mm.
Florets

pistillate 0–2 (raylike, laminae to 1 mm);

bisexual 1–3;

corollas 1–1.5 mm (style branches of ray florets elongate, exsert, epapillate, tips acute; of disc florets, short, truncate, papillate).

pistillate 12–16;

bisexual 25–30;

corollas yellow (narrow or tubular), 3.2–4 mm (unusually large), glabrous or sparsely hairy (style branches prominent, erect, blunt).
Phyllaries

(8–15) ovate, canescent or tomentose.

broadly lanceolate, tomentose.
Heads

(usually nodding) in arrays 6–25 × 1–4 cm (branches erect, somewhat curved).

(erect or spreading, peduncles 0 or to 3 mm) in dense, paniculiform, racemiform, or spiciform arrays 8–20 × 2–4 cm.
Cypselae

(ellipsoid, 5-ribbed) 0.8–1 mm, glabrous.

(dark brown) narrowly oblong-linear (slightly flattened, smooth), 3–4 mm, glabrous.
2n

= 18, 36, 72.

= 18.

Artemisia bigelovii

Artemisia stelleriana
Phenology Flowering early summer–late fall. Flowering early spring–fall.
Habitat Deserts, sandy or alkaline soils, rock outcrops Sandy soils, coastal strand
Elevation 1000–2500 m (3300–8200 ft) 0–200 m (0–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; TX; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CT; DE; FL; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SPM; n Europe; e Asia (Japan, Kamchatka)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Artemisia bigelovii of the southwestern deserts is easily confused in the field with A. tridentata, even though it is well distinguished ecologically and morphologically. Systematic placement within subg. Tridentatae remains problematic. Presence of “ray” florets (though rare) and vestigial spines on the pollen (R. P. Wodehouse 1935) suggest a relationship with groups ancestral to Tridentatae. The species also has the unusual characteristic of lignified trichomes (L. M. Shultz 1986b). Further research may help to determine proper placement; its affinities may be with members of subg. Artemisia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Artemisia stelleriana is apparently native along the western tip of the Aleutian islands (D. F. Murray, pers. comm.). It is an attractive ornamental and, in parts of its range in the flora area, it appears to have escaped from cultivation and is naturalized in beach dunes and other sandy habitats.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 512. FNA vol. 19, p. 532.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Tridentatae Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia
Sibling taxa
A. abrotanum, A. absinthium, A. alaskana, A. aleutica, A. annua, A. arbuscula, A. biennis, 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. suksdorfii, A. tilesii, A. tridentata, A. tripartita, A. vulgaris
Synonyms A. petrophila, Seriphidium bigelovii
Name authority A. Gray: in War Department [U.S.], Pacif. Railr. Rep. 4(5): 110. (1857) Besser: Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 3: 79, plate 5. (1834)
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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