Silver Wormwood
Artemisia ludoviciana
Aster family (Asteraceae)
The Artemisia embodies the open landscapes of the Rocky Mountain West, and Silver Wormwood is a common plant scattered amongst the larger sagebrush, often in dense stands from underground stems or . Silver Wormwood, widely spread in the U.S., is found in largely undisturbed plant communities and provides important forage for pronghorn and other wildlife. Silver Wormwood is similar in overall appearance to small specimens of Silver Sagebrush (Artemisia cana), but Silver Sagebrush is a shrub and has woody stems. Silver Wormwood also exhibits a variety of leaf widths and shapes while the leaves of Silver Sagebrush are fairly uniform. Native Americans utilize a number of the sagebrushes for incense and ceremonial purposes.
The type specimen was collected by Thomas Nuttall in 1811 on the banks of the Mississippi near St. Louis. and "Ludoviciana" means "from Louisiana," i.e., named for the Louisiana Territory, which encompassed St. Louis and most of the land from the Mississippi west to the Rockies. It is common to have a species named for the place it was collected: "Virginiana," "Canadensis," "Arizonica."
©2011 Steve Matson
