Artemisia vulgaris |
Artemisia biennis |
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armoise vulgaire, common mugwort, common wormwood, felon-herb, green-ginger, lobed wormwood, mugwort |
armoise bisannuelle, biennial sagewort, biennial wormwood |
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Habit | Perennials, (40–)60–190 cm, sometimes faintly aromatic (rhizomes coarse). | Annuals or biennials, (10–)30–80(–150) cm, not aromatic. |
Stems | relatively numerous, erect, brownish to reddish brown, simple proximally, branched distally (angularly ribbed), sparsely hairy or glabrous. |
1, erect, often reddish, simple (finely striate), glabrous. |
Leaves | 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, green or yellow-green (sessile); blades broadly lanceolate to ovate, 4–10(–13) × 1.5–4 cm, 1–2-pinnately lobed (ultimate lobes coarsely toothed), faces glabrous. |
Involucres | ovoid to campanulate, 2–3(–4) mm. |
globose, 2–4 × (1.5–)2–4 mm. |
Florets | pistillate 7–10; bisexual (5–)8–20; corollas yellowish to reddish brown, 1.5–3 mm, glabrous (style branches arched-curved, truncate, ciliate). |
pistillate 6–25; bisexual 15–40; corollas pale yellow, ca. 2 mm, glabrous. |
Phyllaries | lanceolate, hairy or glabrescent. |
(green) broadly elliptic to obovate, glabrous. |
Heads | in compact, paniculiform or racemiform arrays (10–)20–30(–40) × (5–)7–15(–20) cm. |
(erect, subsessile) in (leafy) paniculiform to spiciform arrays 12–35(–40) × 2–4 cm (lateral branches relatively short). |
Cypselae | ellipsoid, 0.5–1(–1.2) mm, glabrous, sometimes resinous. |
ellipsoid (4–5-nerved), 0.2–0.9 mm, glabrous. |
2n | = 18, 36, 40, 54. |
= 18. |
Artemisia vulgaris |
Artemisia biennis |
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Phenology | Flowering mid summer–late fall. | Flowering mid summer–late fall. |
Habitat | Sandy or loamy soils, forested areas, coastal strands, roadsides | Disturbed habitats, margins of vernal pools, desert flats, usually clay or silty soils |
Elevation | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) | 600–2000 m (2000–6600 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; AL; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Greenland; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
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AK; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; UT; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT [Introduced in Europe, Pacific Islands (New Zealand)]
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Discussion | 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 biennis is naturalized and weedy in the eastern portion of its range. It is morphologically similar to A. annua, differing primarily in the coarser leaf lobes and larger heads that are sessile in axils of leaflike bracts. Artemisia biennis is considered native to the northwest United States; it may be introduced in other parts of its range. The type specimen is a horticultural specimen from New Zealand. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 19, p. 533. | FNA vol. 19, p. 523. |
Parent taxa | Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia | Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. opulenta, A. vulgaris var. glabra, A. vulgaris var. kamtschatica | A. biennis var. diffusa |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753) | Willdenow: Phytographia, 11. (1794) |
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