E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Artemisia absinthium L.
wormwood (absinthe; absinthium; common wormwood)
Asteraceae (Aster family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© 3CDSG DND  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #10104)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Artemisia absinthium
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial, aromatic herb, sometimes with a woody base; stems ascending to erect, clustered, branched above, finely hairy or eventually glabrate, 40-120 cm tall.
Leaves:
Lower ones long-stalked and 2-3 times pinnately cut, with mostly oblong, obtuse segments mostly 1.5-4.0 mm wide, the blade rounded to egg-shaped in outline, mostly 3-8 cm long, becoming progressively less divided, shorter-stalked and reduced upwards, the divisions more abruptly sharp-pointed, glabrate to finely hairy.
Flowers:
Heads disciform, nodding, in a branched inflorescence; involucres hemispheric, 2-3 mm tall; involucral bracts with densely long, silky, appressed hairs, the outer ones linear, the inner broadly elliptic with broad, thin, dry, papery margins; receptacles with numerous long white hairs between the flowers; female flowers 9-20, fertile; disk flowers 30-50, fertile.
Fruits:
Achenes glabrous.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry roadsides and disturbed areas in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; common in S BC, infrequent northward to 57degreeN; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Artemisia absinthium

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 800 893 987
Slope Gradient (%) 35 47 60
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
218 236 256
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
1 1 2
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
2
Modal BEC Zone Class
PP
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: IDF(1), PP(1)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Artemisia absinthium var. insipida Stechmann

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References