Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia californica

Artemisia douglasiana

California sagebrush, coastal sage brush

California mugwort, Douglas' mugwort, Douglas' sagewort, Douglas' wormwood, mugwort, northwest mugwort
Habit Shrubs, (20–)150–250 cm (rounded), pungently aromatic. Perennials, 50–180(–250) cm, aromatic (rhizomatous).
Stems

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

1–20, erect, brown to gray-green, simple, hairy or glabrescent.
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 (white and green to light gray-green);

blades narrowly elliptic to widely oblanceolate, (1–)3–11(–15) × 0.5–2(–6) cm (proximal with 3–5 lateral lobes, distal mostly entire), faces sparsely tomentose (abaxial) to sparsely hairy (adaxial).
Involucres

globose, 2–3(–4) × 2–4(–5) mm.

narrowly turbinate to campanulate, 2–3 × 2–4 mm.
Florets

pistillate 6–10;

bisexual 18–25;

corollas pale yellow, 0.8–1.2 mm, glabrous.

pistillate 6–10;

bisexual 6–25;

corollas pale yellow, 1–1.5 mm, glabrous, sometimes glandular.
Phyllaries

broadly ovate, sparsely canescent.

(green to gray) ovate, tomentose to pubescent.
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 widely spreading, ascending, stout).
Cypselae

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

ellipsoid, 0.5–1 mm, glabrous.
2n

= 18.

= 54.

Artemisia californica

Artemisia douglasiana
Phenology Flowering early–late summer. Flowering mid spring–late fall.
Habitat Coastal scrub, dry foothills Meadows, shaded sites, along drainages
Elevation 0–800 m (0–2600 ft) 100–2200 m (300–7200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[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 douglasiana is sometimes weedy. Reports from areas outside the northwestern portion of the United States are based on misidentifications of plants in the A. ludoviciana complex.

(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. carruthii, 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. campestris var. douglasiana, A. caudata var. douglasiana, A. commutata var. douglasiana, A. desertorum var. douglasiana, A. heterophylla, A. ludoviciana var. douglasiana, A. vulgaris var. douglasiana
Name authority Lessing: Linnaea 6: 523. (1831) Besser: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 323. (1833)
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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