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lemon sagewort, Michaux' wormwood, Michaux's mugwort, Michaux's wormwood

Habit Perennials, 30–100 cm, strongly aromatic (lemon-scented; rhizomatous).
Stems

relatively many, erect, green, simple, glabrous.

Leaves

cauline, green;

blades broadly lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 1.5–11 × 1–1.5 cm, 2-pinnately lobed, (ultimate lobes toothed), faces white-tomentose (abaxial) or glabrous (adaxial), yellow-gland-dotted.

Involucres

campanulate, 3(–4) × 2–5.5 mm.

Florets

pistillate 9–12;

bisexual 15–35;

corollas yellow, 1–1.5 mm, glandular.

Phyllaries

(yellow-green, rarely purplish) broadly ovate, glabrous or sparsely hairy, yellow-gland-dotted.

Heads

(erect to nodding, peduncles 0 or to 10 mm) in paniculiform to spiciform arrays 8–15 × 1–1.5 cm.

Cypselae

(yellow to light brown) ellipsoid, ca. 0.5 mm, glabrous or glandular.

2n

= 18, 36.

Artemisia michauxiana

Phenology Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Talus slopes, alpine and subalpine drainages
Elevation 1900–3700 m (6200–12100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; YT
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Discussion

Members of the Artemisia ludoviciana complex with deeply lobed leaves are sometimes confused with A. michauxiana, and there is evidence that plants hybridize in some locations. Artemisia michauxiana is distinguished by its glabrous, bright green to yellow-green foliage and lemony-sweet fragrance.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 530.
Parent taxa 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. dracunculus, A. filifolia, A. franserioides, A. frigida, A. furcata, A. globularia, A. glomerata, A. laciniata, A. longifolia, A. ludoviciana, 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
Synonyms A. discolor, A. vulgaris subsp. michauxiana
Name authority Besser: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 324. (1833)
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