Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia borealis

Artemisia aleutica

boreal wormwood, field sagewort

Aleutian wormwood
Habit Perennials, (6–)8–20(–40) cm (cespitose), mildly aromatic; taprooted, caudices branched. Perennials, 5–10 cm (cespitose), mildly aromatic; caudices branched.
Stems

(1–)2–5, gray-green, tomentose.

usually 1, reddish brown to gray, tomentose to glabrate.
Leaves

persistent, basal rosettes persistent, gray-green to white;

blades ovate, 2–4 × 0.5–1 cm, 2–3-pinnately or -ternately lobed, lobes linear to narrowly oblong, apices acute, faces moderately to densely sericeous.

persistent, mostly basal, gray-green; (petioles often expanded) blades (at least proximal) obovate, 1.5–5 × 0.5–1 cm, 2-palmately lobed, lobes relatively narrow, apices acute, faces densely white-villous (brownish in age);

cauline smaller, distally 1-ternate.
Involucres

hemispheric, 3–4 × 3.5–4 mm.

hemispheric or globose, (2–)5–7 × (2–)6–8 mm.
Florets

pistillate 8–10; functionally staminate 15–30;

corollas (or lobes) yellow-orange or deep red, 2.2–3.5.

pistillate 4–6; functionally staminate 15–30;

corollas purplish red, 1.5–2 mm, hairy.
Phyllaries

(obscurely scarious) densely tomentose-villous.

villous.
Heads

(proximal sessile, distal pedunculate) in (leafy) spiciform arrays 4–9(–12) × (0.5–)1–5 cm.

(sessile or peduncles 2–15 mm) in racemiform or spiciform arrays, 1.5–3 × 0.5–1 cm.
Cypselae

oblong-lanceoloid, somewhat compressed, 0.4–1 mm, faintly nerved, glabrous.

oblong, ca. 1 mm, faintly nerved, glabrous.

Artemisia borealis

Artemisia aleutica
Phenology Flowering mid–late summer.
Habitat Open areas, fellfield tundra
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; NU; SK; YT; especially at high elevations and northern latitudes; Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Of conservation concern.

Artemisia aleutica is known only from the western Aleutian Islands. It is morphologically similar to A. borealis, and the relationships of these species complexes warrant further study.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Herbage villoso-tomentose, glabrate, or glabrous; corollas (at least lobes) usually yellow-orange, 2.2–3 mm; mountains, w North America
subsp. borealis
1. Herbage white-hoary; corollas (at least lobes) deep red, 3–3.5 mm; w arctic North America
subsp. richardsoniana
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 505. FNA vol. 19, p. 505.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus
Sibling taxa
A. abrotanum, A. absinthium, A. alaskana, A. aleutica, A. annua, A. arbuscula, A. biennis, A. bigelovii, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
A. borealis subsp. borealis, A. borealis subsp. richardsoniana
Synonyms A. campestris subsp. borealis
Name authority Pallas: Reise Russ. Reich. 3: 755. (1776) Hultén: Bot. Not. 1939: 829, fig. 2. (1939)
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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