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coastal mugwort, coastal wormwood, Suksdorf sagewort, Suksdorf's mugwort, Suksdorf's sagewort, Suksdorf's wormwood

beach sagewort, beach wormwood, coastal sagewort, sandhill sage

Habit Perennials, 50–170(–200) cm, aromatic (rhizomes woody, coarse). Perennials, 30–70(–100) cm, faintly aromatic.
Stems

usually 10+, erect, light brown, simple, usually glabrous.

usually 10+ (rising beyond basal leaves, decumbent), whitish gray, (ca. 5 mm diam., densely leafy) densely hairy.

Leaves

cauline (sessile), bicolor (white and dark green);

blades lanceolate, 5–10(–15) × 1–5 cm (bases strongly tapered, attenuate), coarsely and irregularly lobed, faces tomentose (abaxial) or glabrous (adaxial).

persistent, gray-green;

blades broadly lanceolate, faces woolly-hairy;

proximalmost blades 3–8 × 2–6 cm, 2–3-pinnatifid, lobes linear (to 2 mm wide);

cauline somewhat reduced, 2–3 × 0.8–1.2 cm;

apices acute, faces hairy.

Involucres

narrowly turbinate or globose, 1.5–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm.

globose, 3–4.5 × 3–4.5 mm.

Florets

pistillate 2–5;

bisexual 2–7;

corollas yellow, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous.

pistillate 5–20; functionally staminate 12–25;

corollas pale yellow (broadly tubular), ca. 2 mm, glabrous.

Phyllaries

(straw-colored to yellow-green, shiny) lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely hairy.

lanceolate, margins obscured by indument, hairs straight.

Heads

(erect) in crowded (proximally leafy), paniculiform or racemiform arrays 17–30 × (2–)4–5 cm (lateral branches stiff, erect).

(sessile, clustered in glomerules) in (densely leafy) paniculiform to spiciform arrays 10–20(–30) × 1–4 cm.

Cypselae

ellipsoid, 0.8–1.5 mm, glabrous.

ellipsoid (faintly nerved), 1–1.5 mm, glabrous.

2n

= 18.

Artemisia suksdorfii

Artemisia pycnocephala

Phenology Flowering mid summer–fall. Flowering late spring–mid summer.
Habitat Coastal habitats, often along roads or drainages Rocky or sandy soils of coastal beaches
Elevation 0–200 m (0–700 ft) 0–200 m (0–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Artemisia suksdorfii is similar morphologically to A. douglasiana; it has more and smaller heads, and glabrous phyllaries. The two species hybridize where their ranges overlap.

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

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 533. 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. 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. 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. porteri, 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. heterophylla, A. vulgaris var. littoralis Oligosporus pycnocephalus, A. campestris subsp. pycnocephala
Name authority Piper: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 28: 42. (1901) (Lessing) de Candolle: in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 6: 99. (1838)
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