Mugwort

Mugwort, or Common Wormwood (Artemisia vulgaris)

Locations

 * edges between forest and grassy areas.
 * as of S13 mugwort grows all over the community garden

How to Identify
How to ID Artemisia Vulgaris: Stems: Upright and angular, smooth or slightly hairy, stem color is green usually or has purple ridges or is purple. Leaves: Leaf size can range from 1-10 cm long and 3-7.5 cm wide. The leaves have many segments and usually the leaves higher up on the leaf are smaller than those on the lower level of the leaf. Their color is dark green. There is a small amount of hair on the top of the leaf, whereas on the bottom there is a thicker layer of whitish hair. Root: The root is a rhizome that spreads easily, is woody, and is light to dark brown in color. Odor: The odor is very similar to aromatic sage. Flowers: Artemesia Vulgaris flowers from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite and are pollinated by plant and flower based airborne pollinators. Location: Mugwort grows in Asia, North America, and Northern Europe. Identification Cautions: There are some look alikes for Artemisia Vulgaris including Common Ragweed seedlings (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), which don’t have the characteristic sage-like Mugwort smell and common garden chrysanthemums. Using this guide you can identify the difference between these plants.

History
Artemisia Vulgaris was used in many ways across time. It was used to ward away negative spirits by nailing it to the house; it was put in the shoes of roman soldiers in order to combat the pain of running for so long, and it actually gave the runner the ability to run for many miles apparently; it was and still is smoked as an alternative to tobacco; it is used nowadays as a lucid dreaming aid-the dried leaves can be smoked, made into a tea, or put inside a bandanna or another porous holder and be put under the pillow to have the smell induce lucid dreaming during the dreamtime. For this to work, patience is needed, but usually it takes two weeks to integrate a noticeable effect.

Reference
Etymology: Artemisia was the sister and wife of Mausolus, the Greek and Persian King of Halicarnssus. She herself was named after the greek god Artemis. In the Illiad, Homer refers to Artemis as “Artemis Agrotera, Potnia Theron”, Artemis of the Wildland, Mistress of Animals (Homer 470). Artemisia was the one to govern the kingdom of Halicarnssus after Mausolus’s death and to honor her, they built The Mausoleum, one of the seven wonders of the world.

Characteristics: Mugwort is a herbaceous perennial that grows to be 0.5-2.5 m tall.

Environmental significance: Mugwort grows beside roadsides, near train tracks, basically on fallow ground. In that way it is actively reclaiming a lot of empty spaces not being used today, sometimes even thrown away by our society due to our not needing them anymore, making the soil healthier.

Scientific Conflicts