Louisiana Sagewort, Prairie Sage, Silver Wormwood, Western Mugwort, Western Wormwood
Artemisia ludoviciana ssp. ludoviciana
Synonyms: Artemisia ludoviciana var. ludoviciana, Artemisia vulgaris var. ludoviciana
Western wormwood (ssp. ludoviciana) growing along the Deschutes River in north central Oregon...........2006
Characteristics:
Upright, aromatic herbaceous plant with numerous flower heads
clustered close to the upper part of the main stem. The flower heads are discoid,
with 6-45 yellowish disk flowers, depending on the variety. Leaves are entire
to deeply parted or divided. Plants are somewhat silvery haired. Flowers from
July into October.
Habitat:
Western wormwood is a wildflower that may be found in dry open
places.
Range:
Western wormwood is found mostly east of the Cascades and Sierra
Nevada, but is otherwise common in the western United States.
In the Columbia River Gorge, Artemisia ludoviciana is
found at an elevation of 0'-400' throughout much of the gorge, from the Sandy
River in the west on east.
western wormwood (ssp. ludoviciana) as seen growing in the middle of Little Bowman Creek, trailhead for Canyon Creek, Klickitat Wildlife Area..........May 22, 2015. Note the entire leaf to somewhat lobed margins for this subspecies as well as the dense covering of white, appressed hairs on both surfaces of the leaves.
Paul Slichter