Artemisia campestris
Artemisia absinthium
beach wormwood, field sagewort, field wormwood, northern wormwood, Pacific sagewort, sand wormwood
absinth wormwood, absinthe, absinthe wormwood, absinthium, armoise absinthe, common wormwood, green ginger, oldman, oldman wormwood, wormwood
usually 1–5, turning reddish brown, (often ribbed) tomentose or glabrous.
gray-green (sometimes woody proximally), densely canescent to glabrescent (hairs appressed).
persistent or deciduous, mostly basal;
basal blades 4–12 cm;
cauline gradually reduced, 2–4 × 0.5–1.5 cm, 2–3-pinnately lobed, lobes linear to narrowly oblong, apices acute, faces densely to sparsely white-pubescent.
deciduous, gray-green;
blades broadly ovate, 3–8 × 1–4 cm, mostly pinnately lobed (basal 2–3-pinnatifid, lobes obovate), faces densely canescent.
broadly turbinate, 2.5–3(–5) × 2–3.5(–7) mm.
broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm.
pistillate 5–20; functionally staminate 12–30;
corollas pale yellow, sparsely hairy or glabrous.
pistillate 9–20;
bisexual 30–50;
corollas 1–2 mm, glandular.
(margins scarious) glabrous or villous-tomentose.
gray-green, densely sericeous.
(pedunculate) in (mostly leafless) paniculiform arrays.
(nodding) in open (diffusely branched), paniculiform arrays 10–20(–35) × (2–)10–13(–15) cm.
oblong-lanceoloid, somewhat compressed, 0.8–1 mm, faintly nerved, glabrous.
(± cylindric, slightly curved, obscurely nerved), ± 0.5 mm, glabrous (shiny).
= 18.
Artemisia campestris
Artemisia absinthium
Subspecies ca. 7 (3 in the flora).
Artemisia campestris varies; each morphologic form grades into another. The present circumscription is conservative in that only three subspecies are recognized; the subspecies usually can be separated geographically as well as morphologically. Populations in western North America consist primarily of subsp. pacifica; east of the continental divide, plants are assigned to subsp. canadensis in northern latitudes and to subsp. caudata in southern latitudes.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Artemisia absinthium provides the flavoring as well as the psychoactive ingredient for absinthe liquor, a beverage that is illegal in some markets. Known as a powerful neurotoxin, absinthe in large quantities is addictive as well as deadly. The species is popular in the horticultural trade. Prized by gardeners for its gracefully scalloped leaves and gray-green foliage, it creates an attractive and winter-hardy flower border.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Perennials; stems 2–5; basal rosettes persistent | subsp. pacifica |
1. Biennials; stems 1(–3); basal rosettes not persistent (withering before flowering) | → 2 |
2. Involucres globose, 3–4 × 3.5–5 mm; n of 50°, primarily Canada | subsp. canadensis |
2. Involucres turbinate, 2–3 × 2–3 mm; s of 50°, e from Rocky Mountains to coastal North America | subsp. caudata |
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
CalFlora, CalPhotos, 
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local floras: BC, OR, WA
- Local Web sites: Flora NW, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers,
MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. - WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
