The genus was erected by
Carl Linnaeus in 1753. The name
Artemisia derives from the Greek goddess
Artemis (Roman Diana), the namesake of Greek Queens Artemisia I and II. A more specific reference may be to
Artemisia II of Caria, a botanist and medical researcher (also a queen and naval commander), who died in 350
BCE.
Classification Classification of
Artemisia is difficult. Part of this was due to research by Watson and colleagues, who found that the four subgenera were not monophyletic except for
Dracunculus, after analyzing and matching the internal transcribed spacers of nuclear ribosomal DNA from many
Seriphidium and
Artemisia species, and the related genera
Arctanthemum and
Dendranthema. The authors concluded that inflorescence morphology is not alone reliable for categorizing the genus or some subgenera, as qualities that previously demarcated them (such as homogamous, discoid, ray-less inflorescences) seemed to have undergone paralleled evolution up to seven times. In some classifications, they have previously been considered part of the genus or subgenus
Seriphidium, although recent studies have contested this lineage to Old World species. Much of the debate surrounding Tridentatae is phytogeographic, thus habitat and geography are frequently cited when understanding the evolution of this endemic North American subgenus. Evolutionary cycles of wet and dry climates encouraged "diploid and polyploid races which are morphologically similar if not indistinguishable" (McArthur 598). Autopolyploidy among plants is not uncommon, however
Tridentatae exhibits a remarkable amount of chromosomal differences at the population level, rather than the taxon level. This contributes to the difficulty in determining ''Tridentatae's'' phylogeny. The subgenus' relative homogeneity within ploidies has enabled it to habitually hybridize and backcross, resulting in a high degree of genetic variation at the population level rather than the taxon level. For instance, some articles suggest that to be monophyletic, section
Tridentatae should exclude
Artemisia bigelovii and
A. palmeri. These results were supported by extensive chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and nr
DNA sequencing which departed from prior morphological, anatomical, and behavioral data. Traditional lineages within
Tridentatae were proposed on the basis of leaf morphology, habitat preference, and the ability to leaf-sprout, among other morphological and behavioral characteristics. and there is some ribosomal molecular evidence of a "
Tridentatae core" group for the subgenus. In 2011, Garcia and colleagues proposed enlarging
Tridentatae and organized it into the sections
Tridentatae,
Nebulosae, and
Filifoliae based on previous research establishing relationships via ribosomal and nuclear DNA. •
Artemisia tridentata •
Artemisia cana •
Artemisia nova •
Artemisia rigida •
Artemisia arbuscula •
Artemisia longiloba •
Artemisia tripartita •
Artemisia pygmaea •
Artemisia rothrockii Section
Tridentatae includes above species with the exception of
A. longiloba, which is treated as a subspecies of
A. arbuscula. Section
Nebulae includes
A. californica,
A. nesiotica, and
A. filifolia.
Seriphidium The Old World species which different classifications put into the genus or subgenus
Seriphidium consist of about 125 species native to Europe and temperate Asia, with the largest number of species in Central Asia. Some classifications, such as that of the
Flora of North America, exclude any New World plants from
Seriphidium. Old World
Seriphidium, with 125 species native to Europe and temperate Asia, was a previous classification of
Seriphidium. North American or "New World"
Seriphidium and Old World
Seriphidium. North American
Seriphidium were later placed into
Tridentatae Rydb due to geographical distribution, growth habit, and karyotypic and chemotaxonomic similarities (such as presence of certain terpenols).
Subgenus Dracunculus One group which is well-supported by molecular data is subgenus
Dracunculus. It consists of 80 species found in both North America and Eurasia, This study places
Dracunculus as one of the more recent subgenera within Artemisia, situating
A. salisoides more basally on the tree, with North American endemic groups such as the sagebrushes having derived on the other end of a split from a common ancestor with
Dracunculus. Formerly proposed genera
Mausolea,
Neopallasia and
Turaniphytum are now argued to be within the subgenus
Dracunculus due to ribosomal and chloroplast DNA evidence, with further species resolved as sister groups to
Dracunculus due to phytochemical relationships.
Species '' '' '' '' (California sagebrush) leaves '' (Maui wormwood) '' (Nilagiri wormwood) '' (Roman wormwood) '' (beach sagewort) flowers ,
Plants of the World Online accepted almost 500 species. Below are named some of the most notable
Artemisia species: •
Artemisia abrotanum L. – southernwood, southern wormwood, slovenwood, abrotanum, old-man, lad's love •
Artemisia absinthium L. – grand wormwood, absinthium •
Artemisia afra Jacq. ex Willd. – African wormwood, African sagebrush •
Artemisia alba Turra – camphor southernwood •
Artemisia aleutica Hultén – Aleutian wormwood •
Artemisia annua L. – annual wormwood, sweet sagewort, sweet Annie •
Artemisia arborescens L. – tree wormwood •
Artemisia arbuscula Nutt. – little sagebrush, low Sagebrush, black sage •
Artemisia arenaria DC. •
Artemisia argyi H.Lév. & Vaniot – Chinese mugwort •
Artemisia austriaca Jacq. •
Artemisia bhutanica Grierson & Spring. •
Artemisia biennis Willd. – biennial sagewort, biennial wormwood •
Artemisia bigelovii A.Gray – Bigelow sage, Bigelow sagebrush •
Artemisia caerulescens L. •
Artemisia californica Less. – coastal sagebrush, California sagebrush •
Artemisia campestris L. – field wormwood, sand wormwood •
Artemisia cana Pursh – silver sagebrush •
Artemisia capillaris Thunb. – capillary wormwood, yin-chen wormwood •
Artemisia carruthii Wood ex Carruth. – Carruth sagewort, Carruth's sagebrush •
Artemisia chamaemelifolia Vill. •
Artemisia cina O.Berg & C.F.Schmidt – santonica, Levant wormseed •
Artemisia douglasiana Bess. – Douglas' mugwort, Douglas' sagewort, northwest mugwort •
Artemisia dracunculus L. – tarragon, silky wormwood •
Artemisia filifolia Torr. – sand sagebrush, sand-sage, silvery wormwood •
Artemisia franserioides Greene – ragweed sagebrush •
Artemisia frigida Willd. – fringed sagebrush, fringed-sage, prairie sagewort, estafiata •
Artemisia furcata Bieb. – forked wormwood •
Artemisia glacialis L. – glacier wormwood, alpine mugwort •
Artemisia glauca Pall. ex Willd. •
Artemisia globularia Cham. ex Bess. – purple wormwood •
Artemisia gmelinii Webb ex Stechmann – Gmelin's wormwood, Russian wormwood •
Artemisia gorgonum Webb •
Artemisia herba-alba Asso – white wormwood •
Artemisia inculta Delile •
Artemisia indica Willd. – Indian wormwood •
Artemisia integrifolia L. •
Artemisia japonica Thunb. –
otoko yomogi •
Artemisia laciniata Willd. – Siberian wormwood •
Artemisia lactiflora Wall. ex DC. – white mugwort •
Artemisia longifolia Nutt. – longleaf sagebrush, longleaf wormwood •
Artemisia ludoviciana Nutt. – gray sagewort, prairie sage, white sagebrush, Louisiana-sage, western-sage •
Artemisia maritima L. – sea wormwood,
absinthe de mer •
Artemisia marschalliana Spreng. •
Artemisia michauxiana Bess. – Michaux sagebrush, Michaux's wormwood, lemon sagewort •
Artemisia nesiotica Raven – island sagebrush •
Artemisia norvegica Fr. – Norwegian mugwort, alpine sagewort •
Artemisia nova A.Nels. – black sagebrush, small sagebrush •
Artemisia olchonensis Leonova •
Artemisia orientalixizangensis Y.R.Ling & Humphries •
Artemisia packardiae J.Grimes & Ertter – Packard's wormwood, Succor Creek sagebrush •
Artemisia pallens Wall •
Artemisia palmeri A.Gray – San Diego sagewort •
Artemisia papposa S.F.Blake & Cronq. – Owyhee sage, Owyhee sagebrush •
Artemisia pedatifida Nutt. – birdfoot sagebrush, matted sagewort •
Artemisia pontica L. – Roman wormwood, green-ginger •
Artemisia porteri Cronq. – Porter's wormwood, Porter mugwort •
Artemisia princeps Pamp. – Japanese mugwort,
yomogi •
Artemisia pycnocephala (Less.) DC. – beach wormwood, coastal sagewort •
Artemisia pygmaea A.Gray – pygmy sagebrush •
Artemisia rigida (Nutt.) A.Gray – scabland sagebrush •
Artemisia rothrockii A.Gray – timberline sagebrush •
Artemisia rupestris L. – rock wormwood •
Artemisia schmidtiana Maxim. – angel's hair •
Artemisia scoparia Waldst. & Kit. – redstem wormwood, yin-chen wormwood •
Artemisia senjavinensis Bess. – arctic wormwood •
Artemisia serrata Nutt. – sawtooth wormwood •
Artemisia sieversiana Willd. – sieversian wormwood •
Artemisia spiciformis K.Koch •
Artemisia spinescens D.C.Eaton – budsage [syn.
Picrothamnus desertorum] •
Artemisia stelleriana Bess. – hoary mugwort, oldwoman, Dusty Miller, beach wormwood •
Artemisia suksdorfii Piper – coastal wormwood, Suksdorf sagewort •
Artemisia thuscula Cav. •
Artemisia tilesii Ledeb. – Tilesius' wormwood, Aleutian mugwort •
Artemisia tridentata Nutt. – big sagebrush, blue sage, black sage, basin sagebrush, common sagebrush •
Artemisia tripartita Rydb. – threetip sagebrush •
Artemisia umbelliformis Lam. – Alps wormwood, alpine wormwood •
Artemisia verlotiorum Lamotte – Chinese wormwood •
Artemisia viridis Willd. ex DC. •
Artemisia vulgaris L. – mugwort, felonherb, green-ginger, common wormwood
Formerly placed here •
Centipeda minima (L.) A.Braun & Asch. (as
A. minima L.) •
Eupatorium capillifolium (Lam.) Small (as
A. capillifolia Lam.) •
Filifolium sibiricum (L.) Kitam. (as
A. sibirica (L.) Maxim.) •
Grangea maderaspatana (L.) Poir. (as
A. maderaspatana L.) •
Matricaria discoidea DC. (as
A. matricarioides auct.) == Ecology ==