Artemisia campestris (Plains Wormwood) - photos and description
15 cm ruler for scale.
Basal
leaf in above photo
Stem
leaf in above photo
Stems are pubescent below.
General: Upright biennial or perennial plants with stems often reddish below. Budd's Flora lists this species as glabrous to pubescent, the plants we observed had stems and leaves which were pubescent below, glabrous above. Plant foliage has no aroma, many of our Artemisia species are strongly aromatic.
Flowers: Flower heads with disk florets only. Flowers are greenish-yellow, measured at 2 mm long, growing in a leafy panicle
Leaves: Basal leaves 2-3 times divided into linear segments, petiolate, basal leaf measured 8.5 cm long, segment 1 mm wide. Stems leaves alternate, sessile.
Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 80 cm, we measured plants to 86 cm tall.
Habitat: Habitat is open woods, grasslands, and disturbed areas.
Abundance: Common.
Origin: Native.
How to identify this species of Artemisia: Leaves dissected, mostly basal, no smell (Taxonomic Reminder for Recognizing Saskatchewan Plants).
Similar species: This plant might be mistaken for
Artemisia dracunculus.
- Artemisia dracunculus has leaves that are not divided, and
the plant is glabrous.
- Artemisia campestris has leaves that are divided, and the
plant is pubescent.
When and where photographed: Took the above photos on July 21st, sandy roadside ditch, Boreal forest in Duck Mountain Provincial Park, about 300 km northeast of our home in Regina, SK.