absinthe
Family
AsteraceaeScientific Name
Artemisia absinthiumOther Common Names:
absinth wormwood
Habit
Seedlings emerge throughout the growing season, bearing 2mm long and 1mm wide ovate cotyledons with a powdery appearance on the upper side. Later leaves are deeply lobed and covered with dense soft hairs. The mature plant has several silvery gray stems emerging from a woody root as large as 1.25 cm in diameter. Stems are hairy when young and become hairless with age, and can grow up to 2 m tall. This plant has a strong sage like odor.
Leaves
Grayish green on both sides, leaves are 3-10 cm long. Long stalked lower leaves are divided 2 to 3 times into segments 1.5 to 4 mm wide. The upper most leaves are stalkless, simple, lance-shaped and 1-2 cm long.
Identifying Characteristics
Sage odor, nodding flower heads, grayish green leaves divided 2-3 times into narrow segments.
Flower Seed Head
Small grayish green with yellow brown centers, the nodding flower heads emerge from the axils of the upper leaves. Flower heads are usually 2-3 mm high and 3-5 mm wide, each plant may produce as many as 1,500 heads with 36 florets per head.
Seed Fruit
A single seeded achene. The seeds 0.8 to 1.1 mm long and less than 0.4 mm wide are smooth, light-brown, and club-shaped. Each plant is capable of producing 50,000 seeds that may remain viable in the soil for several years.
Where Found
Throughout Canada and northern two-thirds of the United States in pastures, populations increase as livestock graze more palatable species.
Growth Habit
upright and nonwoody
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
pencil
Dominant Flower Color
Varies:
yellow,
green
Flower Symmetry
radial symmetery
Leaf Hairs
Varies:
has hairs,
no hairs
Leaf Shape
lance
Leaf Arrangement
alternate
Leaf Margin
lobed
Leaf Structure
Varies:
simple,
pinnate
Leaf Stalk
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
Varies:
has hairs,
no hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
taproot
Life Cycle
perennial
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Herb