Artemisia vulgaris |
Artemisia nesiotica |
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armoise vulgaire, common mugwort, common wormwood, felon-herb, green-ginger, lobed wormwood, mugwort |
island sagebrush |
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Habit | Perennials, (40–)60–190 cm, sometimes faintly aromatic (rhizomes coarse). | Subshrubs, 10–60 cm (rounded), aromatic. |
Stems | relatively numerous, erect, brownish to reddish brown, simple proximally, branched distally (angularly ribbed), sparsely hairy or glabrous. |
relatively numerous, ascending or prostrate, gray, simple or branched (slender, wandlike, soft, bases woody and brittle), densely canescent. |
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, gray-green; blades linear-oblong, 3–5 × 1–2 cm, mostly 3-lobed (lobes 1–2 mm wide), faces gray-hairy. |
Involucres | ovoid to campanulate, 2–3(–4) mm. |
broadly campanulate, 2.5 × 4–4.5 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 0; bisexual 20–50; corollas pale yellow, 1.2–1.5 mm, glandular. |
Phyllaries | lanceolate, hairy or glabrescent. |
broadly ovate, densely hairy. |
Heads | in compact, paniculiform or racemiform arrays (10–)20–30(–40) × (5–)7–15(–20) cm. |
(usually erect, sometimes nodding) in (leafy) paniculiform arrays 10–25 × 3–5(–7) cm. |
Cypselae | ellipsoid, 0.5–1(–1.2) mm, glabrous, sometimes resinous. |
(light brown) ellipsoid (ribbed), 0.5 mm, resinous. |
2n | = 18, 36, 40, 54. |
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Artemisia vulgaris |
Artemisia nesiotica |
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Phenology | Flowering mid summer–late fall. | Flowering mid–late summer. |
Habitat | Sandy or loamy soils, forested areas, coastal strands, roadsides | Rocky slopes, often fog-shrouded hillsides |
Elevation | 0–500 m [0–1600 ft] | 0–100 m [0–300 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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CA
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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 nesiotica is known only from the Channel Islands of California. It differs from the closely related A. californica by its shorter stature, wider leaf lobes, and larger heads. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 19, p. 533. | FNA vol. 19, p. 530. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | A. opulenta, A. vulgaris var. glabra, A. vulgaris var. kamtschatica | Crossostephium insulare, A. californica var. insularis |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753) | P. H. Raven: Aliso 5: 341. (1963) |
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