Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt.
western mugwort (white sagebrush)
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
western mugwort (white sagebrush)
Asteraceae (Aster family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Species Information
General:
Perennial aromatic herb from a rhizome; stems erect, simple with white matted hairs, 0.3-1.0 m tall.
Leaves:
Stem leaves numerous with dense, white, matted hairs on both sides or loosely woolly to green and glabrate above, lanceolate to oblanceolate or elliptic, entire to deeply lobed, the lobes sometimes again toothed or irregularly lobed, 3-9 cm long, 10-21 mm wide.
Flowers:
Heads disciform, numerous in a branched or narrow, spikelike inflorescence; involucres egg-shaped to bell-shaped, 2.5-4.5 mm tall; involucral bracts broadly lanceolate to egg-shaped with dense, white, matted hairs or sometimes glabrate; receptacles glabrous; female flowers 5-12; disk flowers 6-21.
Fruits:
Achenes glabrous.
Notes:
This extremely variable species is represented in BC by three varieties. These may be separated as follows:
1. Principal leaves mostly entire, sometimes with a few lobes................... var. ludoviciana
1. Principal leaves more or less deeply parted or divided.
2. Leaves merely lobed, seldom subpinnately cut............. var. latiloba Nutt.
2. Leaves bipinnately cut with the ultimate segments again divided.................. var. incompta (Nutt.) Cronq.
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Early Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: White
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Artemisia ludoviciana
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) |
875 | 279 | 2000 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
21 | 0 | 75 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
171 | 30 | 270 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 1 | 5 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
22 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BG | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(7), ESSF(3), IDF(5), PP(5) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to dry slopes, gravelly river terraces and open forests in the steppe, montane and subalpine zones; vars. latiloba and ludoviciana common in S BC, rare near the coast, var. incompta rare in SE BC, known recently only from Cherryville and Sage Creek; E to ON and S to IL, TX, NM, AZ, CA and NW MX.Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Artemisia candicans Rydb.
Artemisia ludoviciana var. latiloba Nutt.