Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia dracunculus

Artemisia serrata

dragon herb, dragon sagewort, dragon wormwood, tarragon, wild tarragon

sawtooth wormwood, serrate-leaf sage
Habit Perennials or subshrubs, 50–120(–150) cm, strongly tarragon-scented or not aromatic; rhizomatous, caudices coarse. Perennials, 50–100(–300) cm (not cespitose), pleasantly aromatic (fibrous-rooted, rhizomes horizontal, relatively short).
Stems

relatively numerous, erect, green to brown or reddish brown, somewhat woody, glabrous.

2–5, erect, brown, mostly simple (bases woody), sparsely tomentose.
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).

cauline, bicolor (white and green);

blades lanceolate, 7–15 × 1–2.5 cm, serrate (teeth ca. 2 mm), faces densely tomentose (abaxial) or glabrate (adaxial).
Involucres

globose, 2–3 × 2–3.5(–6) mm.

campanulate, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm.
Florets

pistillate 6–25; functionally staminate 8–20;

corollas pale yellow, 1.8–2 mm, eglandular or sparsely glandular.

pistillate 3–5;

bisexual 9–10;

corollas pale yellow, 1.5–2 mm, sparsely glandular.
Phyllaries

(light brown, broadly lanceolate, membranous): margins broadly hyaline, glabrous.

lanceolate (margins hyaline), densely tomentose.
Heads

in terminal or lateral, leafy, paniculiform arrays 15–45 × 6–30 cm; appearing ball-like on slender, sometimes nodding peduncles.

(peduncles 0 or to 2 mm) in racemiform arrays 10–15 × 5–15 cm.
Cypselae

oblong, 0.5–0.8 mm, faintly nerved, glabrous.

ellipsoid, ca. 1 mm, glabrous.
2n

= 18.

= 36.

Artemisia dracunculus

Artemisia serrata
Phenology Flowering mid summer–late fall. Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Open meadows and fields, desert scrub, moist drainages, roadsides Grasslands and barren areas on high plains
Elevation 500–3000 m (1600–9800 ft) 500–1800 m (1600–5900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
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
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
IA; IL; MN; ND; NY; WI
[WildflowerSearch map]
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 serrata is closely related to A. ludoviciana and A. longifolia; it is distinguished by its prominent, serrated leaf margins. It is apparently native to the upper Mississippi Valley and naturalized in New York, presumably following introduction as a garden plant. Reports from Kansas and Missouri may be based on collections of A. ludoviciana.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 508. FNA vol. 19, p. 532.
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. campestris, A. cana, A. carruthii, A. douglasiana, 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. spiciformis, A. stelleriana, A. suksdorfii, A. tilesii, A. tridentata, A. tripartita, A. vulgaris
Synonyms A. aromatica, A. dracunculina, A. dracunculoides, A. dracunculoides subsp. dracunculina, A. glauca, A. glauca var. megacephala A. vulgaris subsp. serrata
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 849. (1753) Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 2: 142. (1818)
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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