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

long-leaf sage, longleaf sagebrush, longleaf wormwood

Habit Perennials, (40–)60–190 cm, sometimes faintly aromatic (rhizomes coarse). Perennials, 20–80 cm (not cespitose), pleasantly aromatic (fibrous-rooted, rootstocks relatively short, horizontal, layered stems sometimes sprouting).
Stems

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

3–20+, erect, gray-green, usually simple, sometimes branched (bases woody), 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 (white and green);

blades linear to lanceolate, 3–12 × 1 cm, margins usually entire, sometimes toothed or lobed, faces densely tomentose (abaxial) or glabrate (adaxial).

Involucres

ovoid to campanulate, 2–3(–4) mm.

campanulate, 4–5 × 4–5 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 3–10;

bisexual 8–26;

corollas pale yellow, 1–2 mm, sparsely glandular.

Phyllaries

lanceolate, hairy or glabrescent.

ovate-lanceolate (margins hyaline), densely to sparsely tomentose.

Heads

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

(peduncles 0 or to 2 mm) in mostly racemiform arrays 8–13 × 1–2 cm.

Cypselae

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

ellipsoid, 0.5–0.8 mm, glabrous.

2n

= 18, 36, 40, 54.

= 36.

Artemisia vulgaris

Artemisia longifolia

Phenology Flowering mid summer–late fall. Flowering mid summer–early fall.
Habitat Sandy or loamy soils, forested areas, coastal strands, roadsides Alkaline flats, grasslands, barren areas, high plains
Elevation 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) 500–1800 m (1600–5900 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
ID; MN; MT; ND; NE; SD; WY; AB; BC; MB; SK
[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 longifolia appears to be more salt-tolerant than most species of the genus. It is closely related to A. ludoviciana.

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

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 533. FNA vol. 19, p. 527.
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. carruthii, A. douglasiana, A. dracunculus, A. filifolia, A. franserioides, A. frigida, A. furcata, A. globularia, A. glomerata, A. laciniata, 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. ludoviciana var. integrifolia, A. natronensis, A. vulgaris subsp. longifolia, A. vulgaris var. longifolia
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753) Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 2: 142. (1818)
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