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

alpine sagebrush, dwarf sagebrush

Habit Perennials, (40–)60–190 cm, sometimes faintly aromatic (rhizomes coarse). Perennials, 10–25 cm (cespitose), mildly aromatic (caudices relatively slender).
Stems

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

gray-green, glabrate.

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).

persistent, gray-green;

blades (basal) oblanceolate, 2–7 × 0.1 cm, 2-pinnately lobed (lobes linear or oblanceolate; cauline blades smaller, 1–2-pinnate or entire), faces silky-canescent.

Involucres

ovoid to campanulate, 2–3(–4) mm.

broadly globose or subglobose, 4 × 4–7 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 6–13;

bisexual 15–30;

corollas 1.5–2.5 mm, hairy (at least on lobes).

Phyllaries

lanceolate, hairy or glabrescent.

green (margins black or dark brown), densely villous.

Heads

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

(5–22) in spiciform arrays 5–9 × 1–1.5 cm.

Cypselae

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

0.8–1 mm, glabrous.

2n

= 18, 36, 40, 54.

= 18.

Artemisia vulgaris

Artemisia scopulorum

Phenology Flowering mid summer–late fall. Flowering mid–late summer.
Habitat Sandy or loamy soils, forested areas, coastal strands, roadsides Alpine meadows, protected areas, bases of rocks
Elevation 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) 3100–4200 m (10200–13800 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
CO; MT; NM; NV; UT; WY
[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.)

Source FNA vol. 19, p. 533. FNA vol. 19, p. 520.
Parent taxa Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Artemisia Asteraceae > tribe Anthemideae > Artemisia > subg. Absinthium
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. 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. 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
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 848. (1753) A. Gray: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 15: 66. (1863)
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