ARTEMISIA VULGARIS

Family:- COMPOSITAE/Sect. ARTEMISIA

Common Name:- None

Synonyms:- Absinthium vulgare, Artemisia vulgaris subsp. typica.

Meaning:- Artemisia (Gr) Dioscorides' name for Artemis (Diana), wife of Mausolus,

of Caria, Asia Minor.

Vulgaris (L) Vulgar, common.

General description:- Perennial, caespitose, aromatic herb without overwintering

rosettes.

Stem:-

1) (30-)60-120(-210) cm, sparsely pubescent, often glabrescent, usually red or

purplish.

Leaves:-

1) Pinnatifid, auriculate at the base, the segments sometimes deeply lobed,

reticulately-veined, usually glabrous above, densely whitish-tomentose beneath.

2) Lower, shortly petiolate, upper sessile.

Flowers:-

1) Capitula numerous, subsessile, erect or slightly recurved, crowded on the

branches of a large panicle.

2) Bracts, leaf-like, the upper small and simple.

3) Involucre 2·5-3 mm, campanulate or ovoid; bracts greyish-arachnoid-pubescent,

outer lanceolate, acute, margins broadly scarious, the inner longer, oblong,

obtuse.

4) Receptacle glabrous.

5) Corolla usually reddish-brown.

Key features:-

1) Panicle usually much-branched.

2) Involucre 2·5-3 mm.

3) Leaves with an obscure network of small veins.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Roadsides and ruderal habitat, 0-100 m.

Distribution:- Rather common in north mainland Greece, a widespread Euro-

Siberian species. Previously unrecorded on Crete.

Flowering time:- June-Sept.

Photos by:- Fotis Samaritakis