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beach wormwood, field sagewort, field wormwood, northern wormwood, Pacific sagewort, sand wormwood

long-leaf sage, longleaf sagebrush, longleaf wormwood

Habit Biennials or perennials, (10–)30–80(–150) cm, faintly aromatic; taprooted, caudices branched. Perennials, 20–80 cm (not cespitose), pleasantly aromatic (fibrous-rooted, rootstocks relatively short, horizontal, layered stems sometimes sprouting).
Stems

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

3–20+, erect, gray-green, usually simple, sometimes branched (bases woody), densely tomentose.

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.

cauline, bicolor (white and green);

blades linear to lanceolate, 3–12 × 1 cm, margins usually entire, sometimes toothed or lobed, faces densely tomentose (abaxial) or glabrate (adaxial).

Involucres

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

campanulate, 4–5 × 4–5 mm.

Florets

pistillate 5–20; functionally staminate 12–30;

corollas pale yellow, sparsely hairy or glabrous.

pistillate 3–10;

bisexual 8–26;

corollas pale yellow, 1–2 mm, sparsely glandular.

Phyllaries

(margins scarious) glabrous or villous-tomentose.

ovate-lanceolate (margins hyaline), densely to sparsely tomentose.

Heads

(pedunculate) in (mostly leafless) paniculiform arrays.

(peduncles 0 or to 2 mm) in mostly racemiform arrays 8–13 × 1–2 cm.

Cypselae

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

ellipsoid, 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous.

2n

= 36.

Artemisia campestris

Artemisia longifolia

Phenology Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Alkaline flats, grasslands, barren areas, high plains
Elevation 500–1800 m (1600–5900 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
ID; MN; MT; ND; NE; SD; WY; AB; BC; MB; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)

Artemisia longifolia appears to be more salt-tolerant than most species of the genus. It is closely related to A. ludoviciana.

(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. 527.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus 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. 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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
A. campestris subsp. canadensis, A. campestris subsp. caudata, A. campestris subsp. pacifica
Synonyms A. ludoviciana var. integrifolia, A. natronensis, A. vulgaris subsp. longifolia, A. vulgaris var. longifolia
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 846. (1753) Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 2: 142. (1818)
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