Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia michauxiana

Artemisia pontica

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

armoise de la mer noire, green-ginger, roman wormwood
Habit Perennials, 30–100 cm, strongly aromatic (lemon-scented; rhizomatous). Perennials, 40–100 cm, somewhat aromatic; rhizomes creeping, woody.
Stems

relatively many, erect, green, simple, glabrous.

relatively numerous, erect, brown, mostly simple (brittle, bases woody) canescent or glabrate.
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.

cauline, grayish green;

sessile (proximalmost short-petiolate);

blades triangular to ovate, 1–5 × 1–3 cm, 2–3-pinnatifid (lobes 0.5–1 mm wide, acute), faces pubescent (abaxial) or hairy to glabrate (adaxial).
Involucres

campanulate, 3(–4) × 2–5.5 mm.

spheric, 1.5–2(–3) mm.
Florets

pistillate 9–12;

bisexual 15–35;

corollas yellow, 1–1.5 mm, glandular.

pistillate 10–12;

bisexual 40–45;

corollas pale yellow, 0.2–0.3 mm, sometimes gland-dotted (stigma lobes relatively short, not emerging from tubes, short-ciliate).
Phyllaries

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

(subequal) linear, hairy.
Heads

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

(nodding) in paniculiform arrays 10–22 × 2–4 cm.
Cypselae

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

ellipsoid (angled), 0.1–0.2 mm, glabrous.
2n

= 18, 36.

= 18.

Artemisia michauxiana

Artemisia pontica
Phenology Flowering mid summer–early fall. Flowering late summer–fall.
Habitat Talus slopes, alpine and subalpine drainages Disturbed areas, valleys, shaded thickets
Elevation 1900–3700 m (6200–12100 ft) 100–500 m (300–1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; DE; IL; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; VT; WI; MB; NS; ON; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Artemisia pontica has finely dissected gray foliage and is widely planted as an ornamental. It escapes locally; it has not been reported as problematic. The only species with which it has been confused in North America is A. abrotanum, which has dark green (not gray) foliage.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 530. FNA vol. 19, p. 531.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia 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
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. 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) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 847. (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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