Artemisia vulgaris
Artemisia abrotanum
armoise vulgaire, common mugwort, common wormwood, felon-herb, green-ginger, lobed wormwood, mugwort
armoise aurone, garden sagebrush, lad's love, old man, southern wormwood, southernwood
relatively numerous, erect, brownish to reddish brown, simple proximally, branched distally (angularly ribbed), sparsely hairy or glabrous.
relatively numerous, erect, brown, branched, (woody, brittle), glabrous or sparsely hairy.
basal (petiolate) and cauline (sessile), uniformly green or bicolor;
blades broadly lanceolate, ovate, or linear, (2–)3–10(–12) × 1.8–8 cm (proximal reduced and entire, distal pinnately dissected, lobes to 20 mm wide), faces pubescent or glabrescent (abaxial) or glabrous (adaxial).
cauline, dark green;
blades broadly ovate, (2–)3–6 × 0.02–0.15 cm, 2–3-pinnatifid (lobes linear or filiform), faces sparsely hairy (abaxial) or glabrous (adaxial).
ovoid to campanulate, 2–3(–4) mm.
ovoid, (1–)2–3.5 × (1–)2–2.5 mm.
pistillate 7–10;
bisexual (5–)8–20;
corollas yellowish to reddish brown, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous (style branches arched-curved, truncate, ciliate).
pistillate 4–8(–15);
bisexual 14–16(–20);
corollas yellow, 0.5–1 mm, glandular.
lanceolate, hairy or glabrescent.
oblong-elliptic, sparsely hairy.
in compact, paniculiform or racemiform arrays (10–)20–30(–40) × (5–)7–15(–20) cm.
(nodding at maturity) in open, widely branched arrays 10–30 × 2–10 cm.
ellipsoid, 0.5–1(–1.2) mm, glabrous, sometimes resinous.
(light brown) ellipsoid (2–5-angled, flattened, furrowed), 0.5–1 mm, glabrous.
= 18, 36, 40, 54.
= 18.
Artemisia vulgaris
Artemisia abrotanum
Grown as a medicinal plant, most commonly as a vermifuge, Artemisia vulgaris is widely established in eastern North America and is often weedy in disturbed sites. Populational differences in morphologic forms are reflected in size of flowering heads, degree of dissection of leaves, and overall color of plants (from pale to dark green), suggesting multiple introductions that may date back to the first visits by Europeans. It is tempting to recognize the different forms as subspecies and varieties; the array of variation in the field is bewildering. If genetically distinct forms exist in native populations, the differences appear to have been blurred by introgression among the various introductions in North America. A case could be made for recognizing var. kamtschatica in Alaska based on its larger heads and shorter growth form; apparent introgression with populations that extend across Canada confounds that taxonomic segregation.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Artemisia abrotanum has been widely cultivated in gardens for old-time uses such as a fly and parasite repellent. It has had a renewed popularity in xeriscape gardening; it is drought tolerant and can fill difficult garden spaces (e.g., dry rocky slopes). Reports of naturalization may be exaggerated; it is not known to become weedy in any of its known locations in North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local floras: OR
- Local Web sites: Flora NW, Go Botany, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, PNW Herbaria
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
