Flora of North America species comparison

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Artemisia pedatifida

Artemisia michauxiana

birdfoot sagebrush, Matted sagewort

lemon sagewort, Michaux' wormwood, Michaux's mugwort, Michaux's wormwood
Habit Perennials or subshrubs, 5–15 cm (cespitose), aromatic. Perennials, 30–100 cm, strongly aromatic (lemon-scented; rhizomatous).
Stems

(5–20), gray-green, glabrescent.

relatively many, erect, green, simple, glabrous.
Leaves

persistent, gray-green, mostly basal;

proximal blades reduced, mostly less than 1 cm, lobed or entire;

distal blades 1–2 × 0.5–0.8 cm, 1–2-ternately lobed, lobes 1–2 mm wide, apices acute, faces densely tomentose.

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

globose, 3–4 × 3–4 mm.

campanulate, 3(–4) × 2–5.5 mm.
Florets

pistillate 4–7; functionally staminate 5–9;

corollas yellow, usually red-tinged, 2–3 mm, glabrous.

pistillate 9–12;

bisexual 15–35;

corollas yellow, 1–1.5 mm, glandular.
Phyllaries

(margins scarious, obscured) white-tomentose.

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

(mostly 6–15, 1 or 3–4 on lateral branches; mostly erect, sessile or pedunculate) in racemiform-paniculiform arrays, 5–8 × 0.5–0.8 cm.

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

(brown) ellipsoid (angled), 0.8–1 mm, (sometimes with white ribs) glabrous.

(yellow to light brown) ellipsoid, ca. 0.5 mm, glabrous or glandular.
2n

= 18, 36.

Artemisia pedatifida

Artemisia michauxiana
Phenology Flowering early spring–mid summer. Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat High plains, grasslands Talus slopes, alpine and subalpine drainages
Elevation 1600–1800 m (5200–5900 ft) 1900–3700 m (6200–12100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; ID; MT; WY
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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.)
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 509. FNA vol. 19, p. 530.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Drancunculus 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. michauxiana, A. nesiotica, A. norvegica, A. nova, A. packardiae, A. palmeri, A. papposa, A. pattersonii, 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. 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 Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 7: 399. (1841) Besser: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 324. (1833)
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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