Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia campestris

Artemisia campestris subsp. caudata

beach wormwood, field sagewort, field wormwood, northern wormwood, Pacific sagewort, sand wormwood
Photo is of parent taxon

armoise caudée
Habit Biennials or perennials, (10–)30–80(–150) cm, faintly aromatic; taprooted, caudices branched. Biennials, 20–80(–150) cm.
Stems

usually 1–5, turning reddish brown, (often ribbed) tomentose or glabrous.

usually 1.
Leaves

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.

basal rosettes not persistent (faces green and glabrous or sparsely white-pubescent).
Involucres

broadly turbinate, 2.5–3(–5) × 2–3.5(–7) mm.

turbinate, 2–3 × 2–3 mm.
Florets

pistillate 5–20; functionally staminate 12–30;

corollas pale yellow, sparsely hairy or glabrous.

Phyllaries

(margins scarious) glabrous or villous-tomentose.

Heads

(pedunculate) in (mostly leafless) paniculiform arrays.

in arrays 12–30(–35) × 1–8(–12) cm.
Cypselae

oblong-lanceoloid, somewhat compressed, 0.8–1 mm, faintly nerved, glabrous.

Artemisia campestris

Artemisia campestris subsp. caudata
Phenology Flowering early–late summer.
Habitat Open meadows, usually moist soils, sometimes sandy or rocky habitats
Elevation 10–1000 m (0–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; FL; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TX; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NU; ON; QC; SK; especially mountains and high latitudes; Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AR; CO; CT; FL; IA; IL; IN; KS; MA; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TX; VT; WI; ON; QC; SK
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

A population of Artemisia campestris found in Massachusetts differs from populations of subsp. caudata by its smaller heads and multiple branched stems. That population is typical of subsp. campestris, formerly believed to be restricted to Europe.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
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
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 506. FNA vol. 19, p. 507.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus > Artemisia campestris
Sibling taxa
A. abrotanum, A. absinthium, A. alaskana, A. aleutica, A. annua, A. arbuscula, A. biennis, A. bigelovii, A. borealis, A. californica, 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. campestris subsp. canadensis, A. campestris subsp. pacifica
Subordinate taxa
A. campestris subsp. canadensis, A. campestris subsp. caudata, A. campestris subsp. pacifica
Synonyms A. caudata, A. forwoodii
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 846. (1753) (Michaux) H. M. Hall & Clements: Publ. Carnegie Inst. Wash. 326: 122. (1923)
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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