Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia franserioides

Artemisia absinthium

bursage mugwort, ragweed sagebrush

absinth wormwood, absinthe, absinthe wormwood, absinthium, armoise absinthe, common wormwood, green ginger, oldman, oldman wormwood, wormwood
Habit Biennials or perennials, 30–100 cm, faintly aromatic (rhizomatous). Perennials, 40–60(–100) cm (mat-forming), aromatic.
Stems

1–3, erect, reddish brown, simple (leafy), glabrous or glabrate.

gray-green (sometimes woody proximally), densely canescent to glabrescent (hairs appressed).
Leaves

basal (in rosettes, petiolate) and cauline, bicolor (white and green);

blades ovate, 3–7(–20) × 2–4(–6) cm, 2–3-pinnately-lobed (lobes elliptic, 2–6 mm wide; cauline sessile, smaller), faces tomentose (abaxial) or glabrous or glabrescent (adaxial), glandular.

deciduous, gray-green;

blades broadly ovate, 3–8 × 1–4 cm, mostly pinnately lobed (basal 2–3-pinnatifid, lobes obovate), faces densely canescent.
Involucres

broadly ovate, 3–5 × 4–5(–6) mm.

broadly ovoid, 2–3 × 3–5 mm.
Florets

pistillate 4–5(–13), (1–1.5 mm);

bisexual 25–35;

corollas yellow, 1.5–2 mm, glabrous.

pistillate 9–20;

bisexual 30–50;

corollas 1–2 mm, glandular.
Phyllaries

broadly ovate, sparsely hairy.

gray-green, densely sericeous.
Heads

(nodding, peduncles 0 or 2) in paniculiform to racemiform arrays 10–35 × 2–4 cm (often 1-sided).

(nodding) in open (diffusely branched), paniculiform arrays 10–20(–35) × (2–)10–13(–15) cm.
Cypselae

elliptic, 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous.

(± cylindric, slightly curved, obscurely nerved), ± 0.5 mm, glabrous (shiny).
2n

= 18.

Artemisia franserioides

Artemisia absinthium
Phenology Flowering late summer–early fall. Flowering mid summer–fall.
Habitat Open coniferous forests, mid to upper montane Widely cultivated, persisting from plantings, disturbed areas
Elevation 2200–3100 m (7200–10200 ft) 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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. 525. FNA vol. 19, p. 519.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Absinthium
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. dracunculus, A. filifolia, 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. 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. spiciformis, A. stelleriana, A. suksdorfii, A. tilesii, A. tridentata, A. tripartita, A. vulgaris
Name authority Greene: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 10: 42. (1883) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753)
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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