Artemisia dracunculus |
Artemisia absinthium |
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dragon herb, dragon sagewort, dragon wormwood, tarragon, wild tarragon |
absinth wormwood, absinthe, absinthe wormwood, absinthium, armoise absinthe, common wormwood, green ginger, oldman, oldman wormwood, wormwood |
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Habit | Perennials or subshrubs, 50–120(–150) cm, strongly tarragon-scented or not aromatic; rhizomatous, caudices coarse. | Perennials, 40–60(–100) cm (mat-forming), aromatic. |
Stems | relatively numerous, erect, green to brown or reddish brown, somewhat woody, glabrous. |
gray-green (sometimes woody proximally), densely canescent to glabrescent (hairs appressed). |
Leaves | proximal blades bright green and glabrous or gray-green and sparsely hairy, 5–8 cm; cauline blades bright green (gray-green in desert forms), linear, lanceolate, or oblong, 1–7 × 0.1–0.5(–0.9) cm, mostly entire, sometimes irregularly lobed, acute, usually glabrous, sometimes glabrescent (deserts). |
deciduous, gray-green; blades broadly ovate, 3–8 × 1–4 cm, mostly pinnately lobed (basal 2–3-pinnatifid, lobes obovate), faces densely canescent. |
Involucres | globose, 2–3 × 2–3.5(–6) mm. |
broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm. |
Florets | pistillate 6–25; functionally staminate 8–20; corollas pale yellow, 1.8–2 mm, eglandular or sparsely glandular. |
pistillate 9–20; bisexual 30–50; corollas 1–2 mm, glandular. |
Phyllaries | (light brown, broadly lanceolate, membranous): margins broadly hyaline, glabrous. |
gray-green, densely sericeous. |
Heads | in terminal or lateral, leafy, paniculiform arrays 15–45 × 6–30 cm; appearing ball-like on slender, sometimes nodding peduncles. |
(nodding) in open (diffusely branched), paniculiform arrays 10–20(–35) × (2–)10–13(–15) cm. |
Cypselae | oblong, 0.5–0.8 mm, faintly nerved, glabrous. |
(± cylindric, slightly curved, obscurely nerved), ± 0.5 mm, glabrous (shiny). |
2n | = 18. |
= 18. |
Artemisia dracunculus |
Artemisia absinthium |
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Phenology | Flowering mid summer–late fall. | Flowering mid summer–fall. |
Habitat | Open meadows and fields, desert scrub, moist drainages, roadsides | Widely cultivated, persisting from plantings, disturbed areas |
Elevation | 500–3000 m (1600–9800 ft) | 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; IL; KS; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OK; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; ON; SK; YT; Eurasia
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CA; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; UT; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | Artemisia dracunculus is widely cultivated as a culinary herb and may be introduced in parts of its range. It is easily cultivated from rootstocks, and while establishment from seeds is rare, seedlings can be found with amenable environmental conditions. Because of its popularity as an herb, it may suffer from overcollecting. Its scarcity in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois (J. T. Kartesz and C. A. Meacham 1999) may have been caused by overly enthusiastic collecting as well as habitat loss. (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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 19, p. 508. | FNA vol. 19, p. 519. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus | Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Absinthium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. aromatica, A. dracunculina, A. dracunculoides, A. dracunculoides subsp. dracunculina, A. glauca, A. glauca var. megacephala | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 849. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753) |
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