Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia californica

Artemisia pedatifida

California sagebrush, coastal sage brush

birdfoot sagebrush, Matted sagewort
Habit Shrubs, (20–)150–250 cm (rounded), pungently aromatic. Perennials or subshrubs, 5–15 cm (cespitose), aromatic.
Stems

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

(5–20), gray-green, 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.

persistent, gray-green, mostly basal;

proximal blades reduced, mostly less than 1 cm, lobed or entire;

distal blades 1–2 × 0.5–0.8 cm, 1–2-ternately lobed, lobes 1–2 mm wide, apices acute, faces densely tomentose.
Involucres

globose, 2–3(–4) × 2–4(–5) mm.

globose, 3–4 × 3–4 mm.
Florets

pistillate 6–10;

bisexual 18–25;

corollas pale yellow, 0.8–1.2 mm, glabrous.

pistillate 4–7; functionally staminate 5–9;

corollas yellow, usually red-tinged, 2–3 mm, glabrous.
Phyllaries

broadly ovate, sparsely canescent.

(margins scarious, obscured) white-tomentose.
Heads

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

(mostly 6–15, 1 or 3–4 on lateral branches; mostly erect, sessile or pedunculate) in racemiform-paniculiform arrays, 5–8 × 0.5–0.8 cm.
Cypselae

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

(brown) ellipsoid (angled), 0.8–1 mm, (sometimes with white ribs) glabrous.
2n

= 18.

Artemisia californica

Artemisia pedatifida
Phenology Flowering early–late summer. Flowering early spring–mid summer.
Habitat Coastal scrub, dry foothills High plains, grasslands
Elevation 0–800 m (0–2600 ft) 1600–1800 m (5200–5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CO; ID; MT; WY
[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.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 524. FNA vol. 19, p. 509.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia 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. 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. 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. 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
Name authority Lessing: Linnaea 6: 523. (1831) Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 399. (1841)
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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