Artemisia vulgaris |
Artemisia carruthii |
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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 |
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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 |
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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AZ; CO; KS; MI; MO; NM; OK; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
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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 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. | FNA vol. 19, p. 524. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
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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