The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

sagebrush

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

Habit Perennials, 5–15(–25) cm (cespitose), faintly aromatic. Perennials, 30–100 cm, strongly aromatic (lemon-scented; rhizomatous).
Stems

brownish purple, glabrous.

relatively many, erect, green, simple, glabrous.

Leaves

deciduous, bright green;

blades (proximalmost petiolate) ovate, 1.5–5 × 1–2.5 cm, 2–3-pinnately lobed (cauline sessile, ternately or pinnately lobed, terminal lobes lance-linear, 1–6 × 0.5–1 mm), faces glabrous or sparsely hairy, glandular.

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, 4–5(–7) × 4–5(–7) mm.

campanulate, 3(–4) × 2–5.5 mm.

Florets

pistillate 14–16 (glandular, style branches exsert, linear, spreading);

bisexual 40–70;

corollas 1.5–2 mm, glabrous or glandular (styles shorter than corollas).

pistillate 9–12;

bisexual 15–35;

corollas yellow, 1–1.5 mm, glandular.

Phyllaries

green (margins light green), ± hairy.

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

Heads

(5–9, pedunculate or sessile, spreading or drooping) in spiciform arrays 3–9 × 0.5–1 cm.

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

Cypselae

ca. 1 mm (apices flat), glabrous.

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

2n

= 18, 36.

Artemisia rupestris

Artemisia michauxiana

Phenology Flowering late summer–fall. Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Steppes, alkaline meadows, stony slopes Talus slopes, alpine and subalpine drainages
Elevation 0–1400 m (0–4600 ft) 1900–3700 m (6200–12100 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
YT; Asia
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The sole North American occurrence of Artemisia rupestris in southwestern Yukon is a remarkable disjunction from the Asiatic range of this species.

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

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. 520. FNA vol. 19, p. 530.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Absinthium 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. pedatifida, A. pontica, A. porteri, A. pycnocephala, A. pygmaea, A. rigida, A. rothrockii, 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 Absinthium viridifolium var. rupestre, A. rupestris subsp. woodii A. discolor, A. vulgaris subsp. michauxiana
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 847. (1753) Besser: in W. J. Hooker, Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 324. (1833)
Web links