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armoise vulgaire, common mugwort, common wormwood, felon-herb, green-ginger, lobed wormwood, mugwort

Carruth wormwood, Carruth's sagebrush, Carruth's sagewort, Carruth's wormwood

Habit Perennials, (40–)60–190 cm, sometimes faintly aromatic (rhizomes coarse). Perennials, 15–40(–70) cm, faintly aromatic (rhizomatous).
Stems

relatively numerous, erect, brownish to reddish brown, simple proximally, branched distally (angularly ribbed), sparsely hairy or glabrous.

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

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, 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

ovoid to campanulate, 2–3(–4) mm.

campanulate, 2–2.5(–3) × 1.5–3 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 1–5;

bisexual 7–25;

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

Phyllaries

lanceolate, hairy or glabrescent.

lanceolate, gray-tomentose.

Heads

in compact, paniculiform or racemiform arrays (10–)20–30(–40) × (5–)7–15(–20) cm.

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

Cypselae

ellipsoid, 0.5–1(–1.2) mm, glabrous, sometimes resinous.

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

2n

= 18, 36, 40, 54.

= 18.

Artemisia vulgaris

Artemisia carruthii

Phenology Flowering mid summer–late fall. Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Sandy or loamy soils, forested areas, coastal strands, roadsides Open sites, usually sandy soils, wooded areas, grasslands, railroads
Elevation 0–500 m [0–1600 ft] 600–2900 m [2000–9500 ft]
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; KS; MI; MO; NM; OK; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 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.)

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 533. Treatment author: Leila M. Shultz. FNA vol. 19, p. 524. Treatment author: Leila M. Shultz.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. 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. 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. suksdorfii, A. tilesii, A. tridentata, A. tripartita
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
Synonyms A. opulenta, A. vulgaris var. glabra, A. vulgaris var. kamtschatica A. bakeri, A. coloradensis, A. kansana, A. vulgaris subsp. wrightii, A. wrightii
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753) Alph. Wood ex Carruth: Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 5: 51. (1877)
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