Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia californica

Artemisia carruthii

California sagebrush, coastal sage brush

Carruth wormwood, Carruth's sagebrush, Carruth's sagewort, Carruth's wormwood
Habit Shrubs, (20–)150–250 cm (rounded), pungently aromatic. Perennials, 15–40(–70) cm, faintly aromatic (rhizomatous).
Stems

relatively numerous, arched, green or brown, branched (slender, wandlike, bases brittle), densely canescent to glabrate.

mostly 3–8, ascending, brown to gray-green, simple (bases curved, somewhat woody), sparsely to densely tomentose.
Leaves

cauline, light green to gray;

blades filiform or spatulate to obovate, 3–5(–9) × 0.5–2 cm, sometimes pinnately lobed (lobes filiform, 0.5–1 mm wide), faces sparsely to densely hairy.

cauline, bicolor (± gray-green);

blades narrowly elliptic, 0.1–2.5(–3) × 0.5–1 cm (gradually smaller distally), relatively deeply pinnatifid (lobes 3–5), faces densely tomentose (abaxial) to sparsely hairy (adaxial).
Involucres

globose, 2–3(–4) × 2–4(–5) mm.

campanulate, 2–2.5(–3) × 1.5–3 mm.
Florets

pistillate 6–10;

bisexual 18–25;

corollas pale yellow, 0.8–1.2 mm, glabrous.

pistillate 1–5;

bisexual 7–25;

corollas pale yellow, 1–2 mm, glandular-pubescent.
Phyllaries

broadly ovate, sparsely canescent.

lanceolate, gray-tomentose.
Heads

(nodding at maturity, pedunculate) in paniculiform arrays 6–20 × 1–3 cm (branches erect to broadly spreading).

(usually nodding) in (leafy) paniculiform arrays 10–30 × 3–9 cm (branches erect).
Cypselae

ellipsoid, 0.5–1.5 mm, resinous (pappi coroniform).

(light brown) cylindro-elliptic, ca. 0.5 mm, (curved at summits, scarcely nerved), glabrous (shining).
2n

= 18.

= 18.

Artemisia californica

Artemisia carruthii
Phenology Flowering early–late summer. Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Coastal scrub, dry foothills Open sites, usually sandy soils, wooded areas, grasslands, railroads
Elevation 0–800 m (0–2600 ft) 600–2900 m (2000–9500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; KS; MI; MO; NM; OK; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Artemisia californica is the common sagebrush of chaparral in southern California. Its threadlike leaves and green flowering heads distinguish it from any other shrub in California. Artemisia nesiotica, an endemic of the Channel Islands that was initially considered a morphologic variant of A. californica, is distinct in size and form. Systematic placement of the complex may be problematic. The molecular phylogeny of L. E. Watson et al. (2002) suggests an alignment of A. californica within subg. Tridentatae. Based on this finding, a subgeneric realignment of this species may be in order. The odor of A. californica is markedly like that of the culinary mints known as common sage (Salvia species).

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

Artemisia carruthii is closely related to members of the A. ludoviciana complex, with which it may intergrade.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 524. FNA vol. 19, p. 524.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia 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. borealis, 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. 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
Synonyms A. abrotanoides, A. fischeriana, A. foliosa, Crossostephium californicum A. bakeri, A. coloradensis, A. kansana, A. vulgaris subsp. wrightii, A. wrightii
Name authority Lessing: Linnaea 6: 523. (1831) Alph. Wood ex Carruth: Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 5: 51. (1877)
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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