Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia michauxiana

Artemisia porteri

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

Porter mugwort, Porter's wormwood
Habit Perennials, 30–100 cm, strongly aromatic (lemon-scented; rhizomatous). Perennials or subshrubs, (7–)8–14 cm (cespitose), faintly aromatic.
Stems

relatively many, erect, green, simple, glabrous.

5–8, silver-gray, densely tomentose.
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.

persistent, silver-green, mostly basal;

proximalmost blades 3–4 × 1–1.5 cm, 1-pinnately lobed, lobes mostly 2–3 mm wide;

blades of flowering stems somewhat reduced, (1–)2–3(–5) × 0.15 cm, mostly entire;

apices rounded, faces densely hairy.
Involucres

campanulate, 3(–4) × 2–5.5 mm.

broadly campanulate, 4–5(–7) × 2–3 mm.
Florets

pistillate 9–12;

bisexual 15–35;

corollas yellow, 1–1.5 mm, glandular.

pistillate 8–10 (2–2.8 mm); functionally staminate 22–32;

corollas pale yellow, 2.2–4.5 mm, glandular.
Phyllaries

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

(ovate, margins broadly scarious) densely tomentose.
Heads

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

borne singly or (clustered in 2s and 3s on lateral branches; peduncles 0 or to 5 mm) in paniculiform arrays, (2–)4–9 × 1–1.5(–2) cm.
Cypselae

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

(light brown) ellipsoid, flattened (faintly nerved), 1.5–2 mm, sparsely hairy, glabrous or resinous.
2n

= 18, 36.

Artemisia michauxiana

Artemisia porteri
Phenology Flowering mid summer–early fall. Flowering mid–late summer.
Habitat Talus slopes, alpine and subalpine drainages Barren clay and gravelly soils
Elevation 1900–3700 m (6200–12100 ft) 1800–2000 m (5900–6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
MT; WY
[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.)

Although Cronquist observed that Artemisia porteri may be an autopolyploid derivative of A. pedatifida, morphologic similarities to northerly cespitose taxa suggest a more complex origin.

Artemisia porteri is in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection of Endangered Plants.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 530. FNA vol. 19, p. 509.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus
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. pontica, 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) Cronquist: Madroño 11: 145. (1951)
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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