Artemisia campestris L.
northern wormwood (field sagewort)
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
northern wormwood (field sagewort)
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Artemisia campestris ssp. pacifica
Species Information
General:
Biennial, or more often perennial, scarcely aromatic herb from a taproot; stems erect, several to numerous, glabrous to hairy, 0.1-1.0 m tall.
Leaves:
Mainly basal, 2-3 times pinnately cut or 3-parted, 2-12 cm long, including the stalks, the segments linear or linear-filiform, seldom more than 2 mm wide, glabrous to more often long-hairy, reduced above.
Flowers:
Heads disciform, numerous in a branched or narrow inflorescence, involucres hemispheric 2-4.5 mm tall; involucral bracts glabrous to densely long-hairy; receptacles glabrous; female flowers 8-20, disk flowers 10-25.
Fruits:
Achenes glabrous.
Notes:
The taxonomy of this circumpolar species remains unclear, especially in North America. Many of the regional floras disagree with respect to the number of taxa that should be recognized (Douglas 1995). The two subspecies recognized for BC may be separated, although sometimes with difficulty, as follows:
1. Plants usually 10-40 cm tall; involucres 3-4.5 mm tall.......................ssp borealis (Pall) Hall & Clem.
1. Plants usally 50-100 cm tall; involucres 2-3 mm tall......................ssp. pacifica (Nutt.) Hall & Clem.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Artemisia campestris
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)
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 |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
855 | 225 | 2158 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
24 | 0 | 95 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
196 | 4 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
319 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(4), BG(118), BWBS(7), ESSF(7), ICH(1), IDF(118), MS(5), PP(37), SBPS(2), SBS(2), SWB(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to dry meadows, rocky slopes and open forets in all vegetation zones; common throughout BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, infrequent on S Vancouver Island and adjacent mainland, absent in WC BC and the Queen Charlotte Islands; N to AK, YT and NT, E to AB and S to NM, AZ and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Artemisia campestris var. purshii subsp. borealis (Bess.) Cronq.
Artemisia campestris subsp. Canadensis [Michx.] Scoggan pro parte