Flora of North America species comparison

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

Artemisia subg. Artemisia

Artemisia carruthii

Carruth wormwood, Carruth's sagebrush, Carruth's sagewort, Carruth's wormwood
Habit Annuals, biennials, or perennials (shrubs in A. californica, subshrubs in A. nesiotica); usually fibrous-rooted, sometimes taprooted, caudices sometimes woody, rhizomes sometimes present. Perennials, 15–40(–70) cm, faintly aromatic (rhizomatous).
Stems

usually not wandlike (wandlike in A. californica, A. nesiotica, A. palmeri).

mostly 3–8, ascending, brown to gray-green, simple (bases curved, somewhat woody), sparsely to densely tomentose.
Leaves

usually deciduous, rarely persistent, basal (rosettes) and/or cauline (not in fascicles).

cauline, bicolor (± gray-green);

blades narrowly elliptic, 0.1–2.5(–3) × 0.5–1 cm (gradually smaller distally), relatively deeply pinnatifid (lobes 3–5), faces densely tomentose (abaxial) to sparsely hairy (adaxial).
Involucres

campanulate, 2–2.5(–3) × 1.5–3 mm.
Receptacles

glabrous (paleate in A. palmeri).

Florets

usually peripheral 3–20 pistillate and fertile (0 pistillate in A. nesiotica, A. palmeri);

central (or all) 14–70 bisexual and fertile;

corollas funnelform.

pistillate 1–5;

bisexual 7–25;

corollas pale yellow, 1–2 mm, glandular-pubescent.
Phyllaries

lanceolate, gray-tomentose.
Heads

usually disciform (discoid in A. nesiotica and A. palmeri).

(usually nodding) in (leafy) paniculiform arrays 10–30 × 3–9 cm (branches erect).
Cypselae

(light brown) cylindro-elliptic, ca. 0.5 mm, (curved at summits, scarcely nerved), glabrous (shining).
2n

= 18.

Artemisia subg. Artemisia

Artemisia carruthii
Phenology Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Open sites, usually sandy soils, wooded areas, grasslands, railroads
Elevation 600–2900 m (2000–9500 ft)
Distribution
Widespread in Northern Hemisphere; especially North America; Europe; and central and northern Asia; sporadic in South America and northern Africa
from FNA
AZ; CO; KS; MI; MO; NM; OK; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species ca. 220 (27 in the flora).

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

Artemisia carruthii is closely related to members of the A. ludoviciana complex, with which it may intergrade.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Subshrubs or shrubs (stems wandlike)
→ 2
1. Annuals, biennials, perennials, subshrubs, or shrubs (stems sometimes brittle, not wandlike)
→ 4
2. Plants 100–350 cm; leaves relatively deeply and coarsely pinnately lobed (lobes 3–7+; coastal California and Baja California)
A. palmeri
2. Plants 10–250 cm; leaves pinnately lobed or 3-lobed
→ 3
3. Shrubs (20–250 cm); leaves pinnately lobed (lobes 0.5–1 mm wide); California (chaparral)
A. californica
3. Subshrubs (10–60 cm, stems mostly prostrate); leaves 3-lobed (lobes 1–2 mm wide); Channel Islands, California
A. nesiotica
4. Annuals or biennials; leaves among heads (relatively deeply) lobed
→ 5
4. Perennials, subshrubs, or shrubs; leaves among heads mostly entire
→ 6
5. Annuals, 30–200(–300) cm, sweetly aromatic; leaves 2–3-pinnatifid; arrays of heads 10–20 cm diam
A. annua
5. Annuals or biennials, (10–)30–80(–150) cm, not aromatic; leaves 1–2-pinnately lobed; arrays of heads 2–4 cm diam
A. biennis
6. Perennials, subshrubs, or shrubs (not rhizomatous)
→ 7
6. Perennials (usually rhizomatous, stems sometimes woody at bases)
→ 15
7. Heads in capitate or dense, corymbiform arrays (plants cespitose)
→ 8
7. Heads in paniculiform or racemiform arrays (plants not cespitose)
→ 10
8. Leaves pinnately lobed; involucres 3–5 mm diam.; phyllaries lanceolate to ovate (margins white)
A. senjavinensis
8. Leaves 1–2-palmatifid; involucres 3.5–11 mm diam.; phyllaries lanceolate (margins brown or white)
→ 9
9. Involucres 3.5–6 × 6–11 mm; phyllaries lanceolate (margins brown); corollas yellow or reddish black, glabrous or glandular (not pilose).
A. globularia
9. Involucres 3–4 × 3.5–5 mm; phyllaries lanceolate (margins white); corollas yellow, glabrous or pilose
A. glomerata
10. Leaves entire, irregularly palmatifid, or palmately 3-lobed to 2-ternately lobed
→ 11
10. Leaves 2–3-pinnatifid
→ 13
11. Pappi coroniform; Idaho, Nevada, Oregon
A. papposa
11. Pappi 0; Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Nunavut; Alaska, Washington
→ 12
12. Plants 15–70 cm; leaves palmately 3-lobed to 2-ternately lobed.
A. alaskana
12. Plants (5–)10–40 cm; leaves 1–3-palmately lobed
A. furcata
13. Perennials or subshrubs, 50–170 cm (widely branched, stems brittle); leaf lobes less than 1 mm wide; heads erect; involucres 1.5–3 mm diam. (gardens, waste places, much of North America)
A. abrotanum
13. Perennials, 10–50 cm (erect, stems not brittle); leaf lobes 1+ mm wide (margins coarsely toothed); heads nodding; involucres 4–10 mm diam
→ 14
14. Peduncles 0 or to 10 mm
A. laciniata
14. Peduncles to 50 mm
A. norvegica
15. Leaves entire, serrate, toothed, or lobed (sinuses to 1/2 blade widths)
→ 16
15. Leaves (relatively deeply) lobed (sinuses 1/2+ blade widths)
→ 22
16. Plants 20–50(–80, rarely more) cm
→ 17
16. Plants 50–300 cm
→ 19
17. Leaves usually entire, sometimes toothed or lobed; involucres 4–5 mm diam
A. longifolia
17. Leaves usually lobed, sometimes entire; involucres (1–)2–5 mm diam
→ 18
18. Involucres 2–4(–5.5) mm; phyllaries (gray-green) densely tomentose
A. ludoviciana
18. Involucres 3.5–4 mm; phyllaries (violet-brown) sparsely tomentose (w North America)
A. tilesii
19. Phyllaries glabrous or sparsely hairy (coast, n California to British Columbia)
A. suksdorfii
19. Phyllaries usually densely hairy
→ 20
20. Leaves densely hairy (both faces, broadly lanceolate, mostly entire, the proximal lobed; w North America, mostly inland grasslands).
A. douglasiana
20. Leaves (bicolor) hairy abaxially, glabrate or glabrous adaxially
→ 21
21. Leaves serrate (teeth ca. 2 mm; inland grasslands and barren areas, high plains)
A. serrata
21. Leaves mostly deeply lobed (lobes 4–20 mm; mostly e North America, introduced w coast)
A. vulgaris
22. Leaves not bicolor (both faces bright green or silvery), lobes acute or rounded
→ 23
22. Leaves bicolor (abaxial faces silvery, adaxial green), lobes acute
→ 25
23. Leaves silver-gray, lobes rounded (coastal dunes)
A. stelleriana
23. Leaves bright green, lobes acute (not coastal dunes)
→ 24
24. Involucres (4–)5–8 × 4–10 mm; 0–3800 m
A. norvegica
24. Involucres 2.5–3.5 × 2–4.5 mm; 100–2400 m
A. packardiae
25. Plants 30–100 cm, lemon-scented; heads usually erect (subalpine and alpine).
A. michauxiana
25. Plants 15–70 cm, not lemon-scented; heads usually nodding
→ 26
26. Perennials (widely spreading, stems brittle); garden escapes, c, e North America.
A. pontica
26. Biennials or perennials (erect)
→ 27
27. Leaves pinnatifid (lobes 3–5, 0.5–1 mm wide); grasslands or deserts, 600– 2900 m
A. carruthii
27. Leaves 2–3-pinnately lobed (lobes elliptic, 2–6 mm wide); w mountains, 2200–3100 m
A. franserioides
Source FNA vol. 19, p. 520. FNA vol. 19, p. 524.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > 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. 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. rupestris, A. scopulorum, A. senjavinensis, A. serrata, A. spiciformis, A. stelleriana, A. suksdorfii, A. tilesii, A. tridentata, A. tripartita, A. vulgaris
Subordinate taxa
A. abrotanum, A. alaskana, A. annua, A. biennis, A. californica, A. carruthii, A. douglasiana, A. franserioides, A. furcata, A. globularia, A. glomerata, A. laciniata, A. longifolia, A. ludoviciana, A. michauxiana, A. nesiotica, A. norvegica, A. packardiae, A. palmeri, A. papposa, A. pontica, A. senjavinensis, A. serrata, A. stelleriana, A. suksdorfii, A. tilesii, A. vulgaris
Synonyms A. section Abrotanum A. bakeri, A. coloradensis, A. kansana, A. vulgaris subsp. wrightii, A. wrightii
Name authority unknown Alph. Wood ex Carruth: Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 5: 51. (1877)
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers