Artemisia absinthium
wormwood
Family AsteraceaeAlso called common wormwood, absinthium
About
Common wormwood is a silvery, strongly scented perennial herb best known as a flavouring of absinthe and other spirits. It is also grown as an ornamental.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Not recorded. We have no source on whether this plant is safe for cats, dogs or other pets — that is not the same as safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked.
- People
- Most forms contain thujone, which can cause convulsions in large amounts; the one documented poisoning came from drinking pure wormwood oil.
- Light
- Bright, sunny position.
- Water
- Tolerates dry soil.
- Soil
- Fertile, medium-textured soil rich in nitrogen; copes with dry ground.
- Propagation
- Ripe cuttings in spring or autumn, or seed sown in nursery beds; self-seeds readily.
- Mature size
- Usually 0.8–1.2 m tall, rarely over 1.5 m.
Field notes
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial with fibrous roots and grooved, branched, silvery-green stems usually 0.8–1.2 m tall. Leaves are spirally arranged, grey-green above and white beneath, covered in silky hairs and dotted with oil glands; basal leaves reach 25 cm and are two to three times divided. Pale yellow tubular flowers sit in small drooping rounded heads.
Distribution & habitat
Native to North Africa and temperate Eurasia; widely naturalised in Canada, the northern United States and elsewhere, including the Kashmir Valley.
Cultivation notes
Grows easily in dry soil in a bright position, preferring fertile, medium, nitrogen-rich soil. Propagate from ripe cuttings in spring or autumn or from seed; it self-seeds freely. It tends to stunt neighbouring plants, so it is a poor companion plant. 'Lambrook Mist' and 'Lambrook Silver' hold the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
History & etymology
The genus is named after the Greek goddess Artemis; the species name comes from the Greek word for the plant, apsinthion.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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