Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia douglasiana

Artemisia spiciformis

California mugwort, Douglas' mugwort, Douglas' sagewort, Douglas' wormwood, mugwort, northwest mugwort

big sagebrush, snowfield sagebrush, spike sagebrush
Habit Perennials, 50–180(–250) cm, aromatic (rhizomatous). Shrubs, 30–80 cm (widely branched, gray-tomentose), aromatic; root-sprouting.
Stems

1–20, erect, brown to gray-green, simple, hairy or glabrescent.

relatively numerous, brown or grayish green.
Leaves

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).

± deciduous (by late summer, turning yellow);

blades lanceolate, oblanceolate, or cuneate, 2.5–5.5 × 0.8–1.2+ cm, entire or irregularly 3–6-lobed (lobes to 1/3 blade lengths, 1.5+ mm wide, rounded or acute; leaves of flowering stems usually smaller, entire), faces ± sericeous or tomentose.
Involucres

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

ovoid or lanceoloid, (2.5–)4–6(–7) mm.
Florets

pistillate 6–10;

bisexual 6–25;

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

8–18(–27);

corollas 2.5–3.5, glabrous.
Phyllaries

(green to gray) ovate, tomentose to pubescent.

lanceolate, sparsely to densely hairy.
Heads

(usually nodding) in (leafy) paniculiform arrays 10–30 × 3–9 cm (branches widely spreading, ascending, stout).

(erect) in (leafy) paniculiform arrays 8–15(–25) × 0.5–3(–4) cm.
Cypselae

ellipsoid, 0.5–1 mm, glabrous.

1–1.5 mm, glabrous or resinous.
2n

= 54.

= 18, 36, 54, 72.

Artemisia douglasiana

Artemisia spiciformis
Phenology Flowering mid spring–late fall. Flowering mid summer–fall.
Habitat Meadows, shaded sites, along drainages Moist open slopes, rocky meadows, streamsides, woodlands, late-lying snowfields
Elevation 100–2200 m (300–7200 ft) 2100–3700 m (6900–12100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

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.)

Often confused with Artemisia rothrockii, A. spiciformis has been recognized only recently as a widespread, high-elevation sagebrush of late-lying snowfields. Molecular analysis has not yet determined the degree to which this species intergrades with A. cana subsp. viscidula and A. tridentata subsp. vaseyana, the presumed parents of this putative hybrid. Because snow-field sagebrush produces fertile seeds and forms a stable community type, it is treated here as a distinct species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 524. FNA vol. 19, p. 515.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Tridentatae
Sibling taxa
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
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. pedatifida, A. pontica, A. porteri, A. pycnocephala, A. pygmaea, A. rigida, A. rothrockii, A. rupestris, A. scopulorum, A. senjavinensis, A. serrata, A. stelleriana, A. suksdorfii, A. tilesii, A. tridentata, A. tripartita, A. vulgaris
Synonyms 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 A. tridentata subsp. spiciformis, Seriphidium spiciforme
Name authority Besser: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 323. (1833) Osterhout: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 27: 507. (1900)
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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