Wormwood

Appearance

''Artemisia absinthium'' is a herbaceous perennial plant with fibrous roots. The stems are straight, growing to 0.8–1.2 metres tall, grooved, branched, and silvery-green.

The leaves are spirally arranged, greenish-grey above and white below, covered with silky silvery-white trichomes, and bearing minute oil-producing glands; the basal leaves are up to 25 cm long, bipinnate to tripinnate with long petioles, with the cauline leaves smaller, 5–10 cm long, less divided, and with short petioles; the uppermost leaves can be both simple and sessile . Its flowers are pale yellow, tubular, and clustered in spherical bent-down heads , which are in turn clustered in leafy and branched panicles. Flowering is from early summer to early autumn; pollination is anemophilous. The fruit is a small achene; seed dispersal is by gravity.

Naming

''Artemisia'' comes from Ancient Greek ἀρτεμισία, from Ἄρτεμις . In Hellenistic culture, Artemis was a goddess of the hunt, and protector of the forest and children. ''absinthum'' comes from
the Ancient Greek ἀψίνθιον, meaning the same.

Status

It grows naturally on uncultivated arid ground, on rocky slopes, and at the edge of footpaths and fields. Although once relatively common, it is becoming increasingly rare in the UK where it has recently been suggested that it is an archaeophyte rather than a true native.

Uses

It is an ingredient in the spirit absinthe, and is used for flavouring in some other spirits and wines, including bitters, vermouth and pelinkovac. As medicine, it is used for dyspepsia, as a bitter to counteract poor appetite, for various infectious diseases, Crohn's disease, and IgA nephropathy.

In the Middle Ages, wormwood was used to spice mead, and in Morocco it is used with tea, called sheeba. In 18th century England, wormwood was sometimes used instead of hops in beer.