Artemisia (plant)

Artemisia
Artemisia dracunculus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Asterales Family: Asteraceae Genus: Artemisia L., 1753
Species
See text

Artemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants with about 180 species belonging to the sunflower family (Asteraceae). It comprises hardy herbs and sub-shrubs known for their volatile oils. They grow in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere, usually in dry or semi-dry habitats. The fern-like leaves of many species are covered with white hairs.

It contains many well known species, such as Roman wormwood, Sagebrush, Tarragon, Mugwort, and Southernwood. The aromatic leaves of many of these species are medicinal, some are used for flavoring, and some are important range species. All types of wormwood have an extremely bitter taste.

Occasionally some of the species are called sages, causing confusion with the Salvia sages in the family Lamiaceae.

Artemisia abrotanum and the artemisias that are lumped together as "Dusty Miller", and wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) were used to flavor the liqueur Absinthe.

A few wormwoods are garden plants, the fine-textured ones used for clipped bordering. All artemisias are hardiest in free-draining sandy soil, unfertilized, and in full sun.

Wormwoods

Absinth wormwood or green ginger (Artemisia absinthium) was used to repel fleas and moths, and in brewing (wormwood beer, wormwood wine). The aperitif vermouth (derived from the German word Wermut, "wormwood") is a wine flavored with aromatic herbs, but originally with wormwood. It is also used medicinally as a tonic, stomachic, febrifuge and anthelmintic. It is native to Europe and Siberia and is now widespread in the United States.

Artemisia arborescens L. (Tree Wormwood, or Sheeba in Arabic) is a very bitter herb indegenous to the Middle East that is used in tea, usually with mint. It may have some hallucinogenic properties.

The bitterness of all plant parts also led to its use by wet-nurses for weaning infants from the breast, as in this speech from Romeo and Juliet Act I, Scene 3:

Nurse: ...

And she [Juliet] was wean'd,--I never shall forget it,--

Of all the days of the year, upon that day:

For I had then laid wormwood to my dug,

...

"As bitter as wormwood" is also a common expression.

Roman wormwood (Artemesia pontica) is a flavouring ingredient that contains thujone used in the alcoholic drink absinthe. Although used in absinthe (thujone), purified wormwood is a neurotoxin. See: A near-fatal incident involving wormwood oil (http://www.gumbopages.com/nejm.html).

Associations in human culture

Wormwood (Apsinthos in the Greek text) is the "name of the star" in the Book of Revelation (8:11) (kai to onoma tou asteros legetai ho Apsinthos) that John the Evangelist envisions as cast by the angel and falling into the waters, making them undrinkably bitter. Outside the Book of Revelation, there are up to eight further references in the Bible showing that wormwood was a common herb of the area and its awful taste was known, as a drinkable preparation applied for specific reasons. This makes sense since the people of those days lived so much closer to the ground and must have appreciated the effects of wormwood to control parasites.

Some authors thought that Chernobyl translates as "wormwood" in the above sense of "Apsinthos", which is "Absinth wormwood". However, the correct translation is mugwort, sometimes referred to as "common wormwood" (see Chernobyl: Name origin).

Wormwood is a junior devil in The Screwtape Letters, a novel by C. S. Lewis on human temptation. Miss Wormwood is the name of Calvin's teacher in Calvin and Hobbes, a former daily comic strip by Bill Watterson. This character is named after the Screwtape Letters character mentioned above.

In Russian culture, the fact that Artemisia species are commonly used in medicine, and their bitter taste is associated with medicinal effects, has caused wormwood to be seen as a symbol for a "bitter truth" that must be accepted by a deluded (often self-deluded) person. This symbol has acquired a particular poignancy in modern Russian poetry, which often deals with the loss of illusory beliefs in various ideologies.

Species

Missing image Artemisia-alba.jpg Artemisia alba

Missing image Artemisia_abrotanum0.jpg Southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum)

Missing image Artemisia_californica01.jpg California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica) - leaves

Missing image Artemisia_pontica0.jpg Roman Wormwood (Artemisia pontica)

Missing image Artemisia_pycnocephala01.jpg Beach Sagewort (Artemisia pycnocephala)- flowers

Absinth Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)

• Artemisia abrotanum L. -- Southernwood, Abrotanum, Lemon Plant
• Artemisia absinthium L. -- Absinth Sagewort, Absinth Wormwood, Absinthium
• Artemisia adamsii Besser
• Artemisia afra : African Wormwood, African Sagebrush
• Artemisia alaskana Rydb. -- Alaska Wormwood
• Artemisia alba
• Artemisia alcockii Pamp.
• Artemisia aleutica Hultén -- Aleutian Wormwood
• Artemisia amoena Poljakov
• Artemisia annua L. -- Annual Wormwood, Sweet Sagewort
• Artemisia araxina Takht.
• Artemisia arbuscula Nutt. -- Little Sagebrush, Low Sagebrush, Black Sage
• Artemisia arctica Less. -- Boreal Sagebrush
• Artemisia arctisibirica Korobkov
• Artemisia arenaria DC.
• Artemisia arenicola Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia argentea (Madeira wormwood ?)
• Artemisia argyi H.Lév. & Vaniot
• Artemisia argyrophylla Ledeb.
• Artemisia armeniaca Lam.
• Artemisia aromatica A.Nelson (???) = A. dracunculus ?
• Artemisia aschurbajewii C.G.Aro
• Artemisia australis Less. -- Oahu Wormwood
• Artemisia austriaca Jacq.
• Artemisia avarica Minat.
• Artemisia badhysi Krasch. & Lincz. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia balchanorum Krasch.
• Artemisia baldshuanica Krasch. & Zaprjag.
• Artemisia bargusinensis Spreng.
• Artemisia bejdemaniae Leonova
• Artemisia biennis Willd. -- Biennial Sagewort, Biennial Wormwood
• Artemisia bigelovii Gray -- Bigelow Sage, Bigelow Sagebrush
• Artemisia borealis Pall.
• Artemisia borotalensis Poljakov
• Artemisia bottnica Lundstr. ex Kindb.
• Artemisia caespitosa Ledeb.
• Artemisia californica Less. -- Coastal Sagebrush, California Sagebrush
• Artemisia camelorum Krasch.
• Artemisia campestris L. -- Common Sagewort, Field Sagewort, Pacific Wormwood
• Artemisia cana Pursh -- Silver Sagebrush
• Artemisia canadensis : Canada Wormwood
• Artemisia capillaris Thunb.
• Artemisia carruthii Wood ex Carruth. -- Carruth Sagewort, Carruth's Sagebrush
• Artemisia caucasica Willd.
• Artemisia chamaemelifolia Vill.
• Artemisia cina O. Berg & C. F. Schmidt -- Santonica, Levant Wormseed
• Artemisia ciniformis Krasch. & Popov ex Poljakov
• Artemisia coarctata (???)
• Artemisia commutata Besser
• Artemisia compacta Fisch. ex DC.
• Artemisia cuspidata Krasch.
• Artemisia czukavinae Filatova
• Artemisia daghestanica Krasch. & Poretzky
• Artemisia demissa Krasch.
• Artemisia depauperata Krasch.
• Artemisia deserti Krasch.
• Artemisia desertorum Spreng.
• Artemisia diffusa Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia dimoana Popov
• Artemisia dolosa Krasch.
• Artemisia douglasiana Bess. -- Douglas' Mugwort, Douglas' Sagewort
• Artemisia dracunculus L. -- Tarragon
• Artemisia dubia Wall.
• Artemisia dubjanskyana Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia dumosa Poljakov
• Artemisia elongata Filatova & Ladygina
• Artemisia eremophila Krasch. & Butkov ex Poljakov
• Artemisia feddei H.Lév. & Vaniot
• Artemisia fedtschenkoana Krasch.
• Artemisia ferganensis Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia filifolia Torr. -- Sand Sagebrush, Sand Sagebush, Silvery Wormwood
• Artemisia flava Jurtzev
• Artemisia franserioides Greene -- Ragweed Sagebrush
• Artemisia freyniana (Pamp.) Krasch.
• Artemisia frigida Willd. -- Fringed Sagebrush, Fringed Sagewort, Prairie Sagewort
• Artemisia fulvella Filatova & Ladygina
• Artemisia furcata Bieb. -- Forked Wormwood
• Artemisia galinae Ikonn.
• Artemisia glabella Kar. & Kir.
• Artemisia glacialis : Glacier Wormwood, Alpine Mugwort
• Artemisia glanduligera Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia glauca Pall. ex Willd.
• Artemisia glaucina Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia globosa Krasch.
• Artemisia globularia Cham. ex Bess. -- Purple Wormwood
• Artemisia glomerata Ledeb. -- Cudweed Sagewort, Pacific Alpine Wormwood
• Artemisia gmelinii Webb ex Stechmann -- Gmelin's Wormwood
• Artemisia gnaphalodes Nutt.
• Artemisia gorjaevii Poljakov
• Artemisia gracilescens Krasch. & Iljin
• Artemisia gurganica (Krasch.) Filatova
• Artemisia gypsacea Krasch., Popov & Lincz. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia halodendron Turcz. ex Besser
• Artemisia halophila Krasch.
• Artemisia heptapotamica Poljakov
• Artemisia hippolyti Butkov
• Artemisia hololeuca M.Bieb. ex Besser
• Artemisia hulteniana Vorosch.
• Artemisia incana (L.) Druce
• Artemisia insulana Krasch.
• Artemisia insularis Kitam.
• Artemisia integrifolia L.
• Artemisia issykkulensis Poljakov
• Artemisia jacutica Drobow
• Artemisia japonica Thunb.
• Artemisia juncea Kar. & Kir.
• Artemisia karatavica Krasch. & Abolin ex Poljakov
• Artemisia karavajevii Leonova
• Artemisia kaschgarica Krasch.
• Artemisia kauaiensis (Skottsberg) Skottsberg -- Kauai Wormwood
• Artemisia keiskeana Miq.
• Artemisia kelleri Krasch.
• Artemisia kemrudica Krasch.
• Artemisia knorringiana Krasch.
• Artemisia kochiiformis Krasch. & Lincz. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia koidzumii Nakai
• Artemisia kopetdaghensis Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia korovinii Poljakov
• Artemisia korshinskyi Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia krushiana Bess. -- Krush's Wormwood
• Artemisia kulbadica Boiss. & Buhse
• Artemisia kuschakewiczii C.G.A.Winkl.
• Artemisia laciniata Willd. -- Siberian Wormwood
• Artemisia laciniatiformis Kom.
• Artimisia lactiflora
• Artemisia lagocephala (Besser) DC.
• Artemisia lagopus Fisch. ex Besser
• Artemisia latifolia Ledeb.
• Artemisia ledebouriana Besser
• Artemisia lehmanniana Bunge
• Artemisia leontopodioides Fisch. ex Besser
• Artemisia lessingiana Besser
• Artemisia leucodes Schrenk
• Artemisia leucophylla (Turcz. ex Besser) Pamp.
• Artemisia leucotricha Krasch. ex Ladygina
• Artemisia lindleyana Bess. -- Columbia River Wormwood
• Artemisia lipskyi Poljakov
• Artemisia littoricola Kitam.
• Artemisia longifolia Nutt. -- Longleaf sSgebrush, Longleaf Wormwood
• Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt. -- Gray Sagewort, Prairie Sage, White Sagebrush
• Artemisia macilenta (Maxim.) Krasch.
• Artemisia macrantha Ledeb.
• Artemisia macrobotrys Ledeb. -- Yukon Wormwood
• Artemisia macrocephala Jacq. ex Besser
• Artemisia macrorhiza Turcz.
• Artemisia maracandica Bunge
• Artemisia maritima L. -- Sea Wormwood, Sea Absinth
• Artemisia marschalliana Spreng.
• Artemisia martjanovii Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia mauiensis (Gray) Skottsberg -- Maui Wormwood
• Artemisia maximovicziana Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia medioxima Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia messerschmidtiana Besser
• Artemisia michauxiana Bess. -- Michaux Sagebrush, Michaux's Wormwood
• Artemisia mogoltavica Poljakov
• Artemisia mongolica (Besser) Fisch. ex Nakai
• Artemisia mongolorum Krasch.
• Artemisia montana (Nakai) Pamp.
• Artemisia mucronulata Poljakov
• Artemisia multisecta Leonova
• Artemisia namanganica Poljakov
• Artemisia nesiotica Raven -- Island Sagebrush
• Artemisia nigricans Filatova & Ladygina
• Artemisia norvegica Fries -- Norway Sagewort
• Artemisia nova A. Nels. -- Black Sagebrush
• Artemisia obscura Pamp.
• Artemisia obtusiloba Ledeb.
• Artemisia oelandica (Besser) Krasch.
• Artemisia olchonensis Leonova
• Artemisia oliveriana J.Gay ex Besser
• Artemisia opulenta Pamp.
• Artemisia packardiae J. Grimes & Ertter -- Packard's Wormwood, Succor Creek Sagebrush
• Artemisia pallasiana Fisch. ex Besser
• Artemisia palmeri Gray -- San Diego Sagewort
• Artemisia palustris L.
• Artemisia pannosa Krasch.
• Artemisia papposa Blake & Cronq. -- Owyhee Sage, Owyhee Sagebrush
• Artemisia parryi Gray -- Parry's Wormwood
• Artemisia pattersonii Gray -- Patterson's Wormwood
• Artemisia pectinata Pall.
• Artemisia pedatifida Nutt. -- Birdfoot Sagebrush
• Artemisia pedemontana Balb.
• Artemisia persica Boiss.
• Artemisia pewzowii C.G.A.Winkl.
• Artemisia phaeolepis Krasch.
• Artemisia polysticha Poljakov
• Artemisia pontica L. -- Roman Wormwood
• Artemisia porrecta Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia porteri Cronq. -- Porter's Wormwood
• Artemisia prasina Krasch. ex Poljak.
• Artemisia proceriformis Krasch.
• Artemisia prolixa Krasch. ex Poljak.
• Artemisia punctigera Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia purshiana Besser
• Artemisia pycnocephala (Less.) DC. -- Beach Wormwood
• Artemisia pycnorhiza Ledeb.
• Artemisia pygmaea Gray -- Pygmy Sagebrush
• Artemisia quinqueloba Trautv.
• Artemisia remotiloba Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia rhodantha Rupr.
• Artemisia rigida (Nutt.) Gray -- Scabland Sagebrush
• Artemisia rothrockii Gray -- Timberline Sagebrush
• Artemisia rubripes Nakai
• Artemisia rupestris L. -- Rock Wormwood, Alpine Yarrow
• Artemisia rutifolia Stephan ex Spreng.
• Artemisia saissanica (Krasch.) Filatova
• Artemisia saitoana Kitam.
• Artemisia salsoloides Willd.
• Artemisia samoiedorum Pamp.
• Artemisia santolina Schrenk
• Artemisia santolinifolia Turcz. ex Besser
• Artemisia santonica L.
• Artemisia saposhnikovii Krasch. ex Poljak.
• Artemisia schischkinii Krasch.
• Artemisia schmidtiana -- Satiny Wormwood
• Artemisia schrenkiana Ledeb.
• Artemisia scoparia Waldst. & Kit. -- Redstem Wormwood
• Artemisia scopiformis Ledeb.
• Artemisia scopulorum Gray -- Alpine Sagebrush, Dwarf Sagebrush
• Artemisia scotina Nevski
• Artemisia senjavinensis Bess. -- Arctic Wormwood
• Artemisia selengensis Turcz. ex Besser
• Artemisia semiarida (Krasch. & Lavrenko) Filatova
• Artemisia senjavinensis Besser
• Artemisia sericea Weber ex Stechm.
• Artemisia serotina Bunge
• Artemisia serrata Nutt. -- Sawtooth Wormwood
• Artemisia spinescens (syn. Picrothamnus desertorum) : Bud Brush, Bud Sage
• Artemisia sieversiana Willd.
• Artemisia skorniakowii C.G.A.Winkl.
• Artemisia sogdiana Bunge
• Artemisia songarica Schrenk
• Artemisia spicigera K.Koch
• Artemisia splendens Willd.
• Artemisia stelleriana Bess. -- Oldwoman, Beach Wormwood, Dusty Miller
• Artemisia stenocephala Krasch. ex Poljak.
• Artemisia stenophylla Kitam.
• Artemisia stolonifera (Maxim.) Kom.
• Artemisia subarctica Krasch.
• Artemisia subchrysolepis Filatova
• Artemisia sublessingiana Krasch. ex Poljakov
• Artemisia subsalsa Filatova
• Artemisia subviscosa Turcz. ex Besser
• Artemisia succulenta Ledeb.
• Artemisia suksdorfii Piper -- Coastal Wormwood
• Artemisia sylvatica Maxim.
• Artemisia szowitziana (Besser) Grossh.
• Artemisia tanacetifolia L.
• Artemisia taurica Willd.
• Artemisia tenuisecta Nevski
• Artemisia terrae-albae Krasch.
• Artemisia tianschanica Krasch. ex Poljak.
• Artemisia tilesii Ledeb. -- Tilesius' Wormwood
• Artemisia tomentella Trautv.
• Artemisia tournefortiana Rchb.
• Artemisia transbaicalensis Leonova
• Artemisia transiliensis Poljakov
• Artemisia trautvetteriana Besser
• Artemisia tridentata Nutt. -- Big Sagebrush, Blue Sage, Black Sage, Basin Sagebrush
  • Artemisia tridentata var. parsihii : Big Sagebrush
  • Artemisia tridentata var. spiciformis : Big Sagebrush
  • Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata : Big Sagebrush
  • Artemisia tridentata var. vasayana : Mountain Big Sagebrush
  • Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis : Wyoming Big Sagebrush
  • Artemisia tridentata var. xericensis : Big Sagebrush
• Artemisia triniana Besser
• Artemisia tripartita Rydb. -- Threetip Sagebrush
  • Artemisia tripartita var. rupicola : Wyoming Threetip Sagebrush
  • Artemisia tripartita var. tripartita : Threetip Sagebrush
• Artemisia turanica Krasch.
• Artemisia turcomanica Gand.
• Artemisia umbelliformis Lam. -- Alps Wormwood
• Artemisia unalaskensis Rydb.
• Artemisia vachanica Krasch. ex Poljak.
• Artemisia valida Krasch. ex Poljak.
• Artemisia verlotiorum Lamotte
• Artemisia viridis Willd.
• Artemisia vulgaris L. -- Common Wormwood, Alpine Wormwood, Mugwort
  • Artemisia vulgaris var. kamtschatica : Common Wormwood
  • Artemisia vulgaris var. vulgaris : Common Wormwood.
  • Artemisia vulgaris var. coarctata ???
  • Artemisia vulgaris var. verlotorum , Verlot's Mugwort ???da:Bynke (Artemisia)

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