Common mugwort facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Common mugwort |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Artemisia
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| Species: |
vulgaris
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| Synonyms | |
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Synonymy
Absinthium spicatum (Wulfen ex Jacq.) Baumg.
Artemisia affinis Hassk. Artemisia apetala hort.pest. ex Steud. Artemisia cannabifolia H.Lév. Artemisia coarctata Forselles Artemisia discolor Douglas ex DC. Artemisia eriophora Ledeb. Artemisia flodmanii Rydb. Artemisia glabrata DC. Artemisia heribaudii (Sennen) Sennen Artemisia heyneana Wall. Artemisia hispanica Stechm. ex Besser Artemisia javanica Pamp. Artemisia leptophylla D.Don Artemisia leptostachya D.Don Artemisia leucophylla (Ledeb.) Turcz. ex Pavlov 1929 not C.B. Clarke 1876 Artemisia longiflora Pamp. Artemisia ludoviciana Besser 1834 not Nutt. 1818 Artemisia michauxii Besser Artemisia officinalis Gaterau Artemisia opulenta Pamp. Artemisia paniculiformis DC. Artemisia parviflora Wight Artemisia rubriflora Turcz. ex Besser Artemisia ruderalis Salisb. Artemisia samamisica Besser Artemisia selengensis Turcz. ex Besser Artemisia superba Pamp Artemisia tongtchouanensis H.Lév. Artemisia violacea Desf. Artemisia virens Moench Artemisia vulgaris Burm.f. 1768 not L. 1753 Artemisia wallichiana Besser |
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Artemisia vulgaris, the common mugwort, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. It is one of several species in the genus Artemisia commonly known as mugwort, although Artemisia vulgaris is the species most often called mugwort. It is also occasionally known as riverside wormwood, felon herb, chrysanthemum weed, wild wormwood, old Uncle Henry, sailor's tobacco, naughty man, old man, or St. John's plant (not to be confused with St John's wort). Mugworts have been used medicinally and as culinary herbs.
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Distribution
A. vulgaris is native to temperate Europe, Asia, North Africa, and Alaska, and is naturalized in North America, where some consider it an invasive weed. It is a very common plant growing on nitrogenous soils, such as waste places, roadsides and other weedy and uncultivated areas.
Uses
Traditionally, it has been used as one of the flavoring and bittering agents of gruit ales, a type of unhopped, fermented grain beverage. In Vietnam, mugwort is used in cooking as an aromatic herb.
In China, the crunchy stalks of young shoots of A. vulgaris, known as luhao (Chinese: 芦蒿; pinyin: lúhāo), are a seasonal vegetable often used in stir-fries.
In Nepal, the plant is also called titepati (tite meaning bitter, pati meaning leaf) and is used as an offering to the gods, for cleansing the environment (by sweeping floors or hanging a bundle outside the home), as incense, and also as a medicinal plant.
Description
A. vulgaris is a tall, herbaceous, perennial plant growing 1–2 metres (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) (rarely 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in)) tall, with an extensive rhizome system. Rather than depending on seed dispersal, it spreads through vegetative expansion and the anthropogenic dispersal of root rhizome fragments. The leaves are 5–20 centimetres (2–8 in) long, dark green, pinnate, and sessile, with dense, white, tomentose hairs on the underside. The erect stems are grooved and often have a red-purplish tinge. The Ukrainian name for Mugwort, Чørnobyl ("Chernobyl") transliterates as "Black Stalk" , and it is from this plant that the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl gets its name. The rather small florets (5 millimetres (13⁄64 in) long) are radially symmetrical with many yellow or dark red petals. The narrow and numerous capitula (flower heads), all fertile, spread out in racemose panicles. It flowers from midsummer to early autumn.
A number of species of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) such as Ostrinia scapulalis feed on the leaves and flowers of the plant.
See also
In Spanish: Artemisa (planta) para niños
