Artemisia franserioides |
Artemisia californica |
|
---|---|---|
bursage mugwort, ragweed sagebrush |
California sagebrush, coastal sage brush |
|
Habit | Biennials or perennials, 30–100 cm, faintly aromatic (rhizomatous). | Shrubs, (20–)150–250 cm (rounded), pungently aromatic. |
Stems | 1–3, erect, reddish brown, simple (leafy), glabrous or glabrate. |
relatively numerous, arched, green or brown, branched (slender, wandlike, bases brittle), densely canescent to glabrate. |
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. |
cauline, light green to gray; blades filiform or spatulate to obovate, 3–5(–9) × 0.5–2 cm, sometimes pinnately lobed (lobes filiform, 0.5–1 mm wide), faces sparsely to densely hairy. |
Involucres | broadly ovate, 3–5 × 4–5(–6) mm. |
globose, 2–3(–4) × 2–4(–5) mm. |
Florets | pistillate 4–5(–13), (1–1.5 mm); bisexual 25–35; corollas yellow, 1.5–2 mm, glabrous. |
pistillate 6–10; bisexual 18–25; corollas pale yellow, 0.8–1.2 mm, glabrous. |
Phyllaries | broadly ovate, sparsely hairy. |
broadly ovate, sparsely canescent. |
Heads | (nodding, peduncles 0 or 2) in paniculiform to racemiform arrays 10–35 × 2–4 cm (often 1-sided). |
(nodding at maturity, pedunculate) in paniculiform arrays 6–20 × 1–3 cm (branches erect to broadly spreading). |
Cypselae | elliptic, 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous. |
ellipsoid, 0.5–1.5 mm, resinous (pappi coroniform). |
2n | = 18. |
|
Artemisia franserioides |
Artemisia californica |
|
Phenology | Flowering late summer–early fall. | Flowering early–late summer. |
Habitat | Open coniferous forests, mid to upper montane | Coastal scrub, dry foothills |
Elevation | 2200–3100 m (7200–10200 ft) | 0–800 m (0–2600 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; Mexico (Chihuahua)
|
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
|
Discussion | Artemisia californica is the common sagebrush of chaparral in southern California. Its threadlike leaves and green flowering heads distinguish it from any other shrub in California. Artemisia nesiotica, an endemic of the Channel Islands that was initially considered a morphologic variant of A. californica, is distinct in size and form. Systematic placement of the complex may be problematic. The molecular phylogeny of L. E. Watson et al. (2002) suggests an alignment of A. californica within subg. Tridentatae. Based on this finding, a subgeneric realignment of this species may be in order. The odor of A. californica is markedly like that of the culinary mints known as common sage (Salvia species). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|
Source | FNA vol. 19, p. 525. | FNA vol. 19, p. 524. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia | Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. abrotanoides, A. fischeriana, A. foliosa, Crossostephium californicum | |
Name authority | Greene: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 10: 42. (1883) | Lessing: Linnaea 6: 523. (1831) |
Web links |