Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia borealis

Artemisia serrata

boreal wormwood, field sagewort

sawtooth wormwood, serrate-leaf sage
Habit Perennials, (6–)8–20(–40) cm (cespitose), mildly aromatic; taprooted, caudices branched. Perennials, 50–100(–300) cm (not cespitose), pleasantly aromatic (fibrous-rooted, rhizomes horizontal, relatively short).
Stems

(1–)2–5, gray-green, tomentose.

2–5, erect, brown, mostly simple (bases woody), sparsely tomentose.
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.

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).
Involucres

hemispheric, 3–4 × 3.5–4 mm.

campanulate, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm.
Florets

pistillate 8–10; functionally staminate 15–30;

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

pistillate 3–5;

bisexual 9–10;

corollas pale yellow, 1.5–2 mm, sparsely glandular.
Phyllaries

(obscurely scarious) densely tomentose-villous.

lanceolate (margins hyaline), densely tomentose.
Heads

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

(peduncles 0 or to 2 mm) in racemiform arrays 10–15 × 5–15 cm.
Cypselae

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

ellipsoid, ca. 1 mm, glabrous.
2n

= 36.

Artemisia borealis

Artemisia serrata
Phenology Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Grasslands and barren areas on high plains
Elevation 500–1800 m (1600–5900 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
IA; IL; MN; ND; NY; WI
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

(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.)
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. 532.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia
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. 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. 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 A. vulgaris subsp. serrata
Name authority Pallas: Reise Russ. Reich. 3: 755. (1776) Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 2: 142. (1818)
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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