Hedypnois

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Campanulids
Ordo: Asterales

Familia: Asteraceae
Subfamilia: Asteroideae
Tribus: Anthemideae
Subtribus: Artemisiinae
Genus: Artemisia
Subgenus: A. subg. Artemisia
Sectio: A. sect. Absinthium
Species: Artemisia absinthium
Name

Artemisia absinthium L., Sp. Pl. 2: 848 (1753).
Synonyms

Heterotypic
Absinthium bipedale Gilib., Fl. Lit. Inch. 1: 174 (1782).
Absinthium majus Garsault, Fig. Pl. Méd. 2: t. 121 (1764).
Absinthium officinale Brot., Fl. Lusit. 1: 357 (1804).
Absinthium vulgare Lam., Fl. Franç. 2: 45 (1779).
Artemisia absinthia St.-Lag., Ann. Soc. Bot. Lyon 7: 119 (1880).
Artemisia albida Willd. ex Ledeb., Fl. Ross. 2: 566 (1845).
Artemisia baldaccii Degen, Magyar Bot. Lapok 7: 102 (1908).
Artemisia doonense Royle, Ill. Bot. Himal. Mts. 1: 250 (1838).
Artemisia inodora Mill., Gard. Dict. ed. 8: n.° 16 (1768).
Artemisia kulbadica Boiss. & Buhse@, Nouv. Mém. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 12: 120 (1860).
Artemisia pendula Salisb., Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 191 (1796).
Artemisia rehan Chiov., Monogr. Rapp. Colon. 24: 33 (1912).
Artemisia arborescens f. rehan (Chiov.) Chiov., L.A.di Savoia-Aosta, Esplor. Uabi-Uebi Scebeli: 417 (1932).
Artemisia rhaetica Brügger, Jahresber. Naturf. Ges. Graubündens, n.s., 29: 120 (1884-1885 publ. 1886).
Artemisia absinthium var. insipida Stechm., Artemis.: 16 (1775).
Artemisia arborescens var. cupaniana Chiov., L.A.di Savoia-Aosta, Esplor. Uabi-Uebi Scebeli: 417 (1932).

Hybrids

A. × albertii – A. × burnatii – A. × christii – A. × gayeriana – A. × wolfii

Artemisia absinthium, Walther Otto Mueller

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Europe
Regional: Northern Europe
Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden.
Regional: Middle Europe
Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland.
Regional: Southwestern Europe
Corse, France, Portugal, Sardegna, Spain.
Regional: Southeastern Europe
Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Romania, Turkey-in-Europe, Yugoslavia.
Regional: Eastern Europe
Belarus, Baltic States, Krym, Central European Russia, East European Russia, North European Russia, South European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Ukraine.
Continental: Africa
Regional: Northern Africa
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara.
Regional: Macaronesia
Azores.
Regional: Northeast Tropical Africa
Eritrea, Ethiopia.
Continental: Asia-Temperate
Regional: Siberia
Altay, Buryatiya, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, West Siberia.
Regional: Middle Asia
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tadzhikistan, Uzbekistan.
Regional: Caucasus
North Caucasus, Transcaucasus.
Regional: Western Asia
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Turkey.
Regional: China
China South-Central, Hainan, Inner Mongolia, China North-Central, Qinghai, China Southeast, Tibet, Xinjiang.
Regional: Eastern Asia
Japan, Taiwan.
Continental: Asia-Tropical
Regional: Indian Subcontinent
India, Pakistan, West Himalaya.
Regional: Indo-China
Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam.
Regional: Malesia
Borneo, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatera.
Continental: Australasia
Regional: Australia
New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia.
Regional: New Zealand
Chatham Islands, New Zealand North, New Zealand South.
Continental: Northern America
Regional: Subarctic America
Greenland.
Regional: Western Canada
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan.
Regional: Eastern Canada
New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Québec.
Regional: Northwestern U.S.A.
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming.
Regional: North-Central U.S.A.
Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin.
Regional: Northeastern U.S.A.
Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia.
Regional: Southwestern U.S.A.
California, Utah.
Regional: Southeastern U.S.A.
Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, District of Columbia.
Regional: Mexico
Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Mexico Southeast.
Continental: Southern America
Regional: Central America
Guatemala, Honduras.
Regional: Caribbean
Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico.
Regional: Western South America
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru.
Regional: Brazil
Brazil West-Central, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Brazil North, Brazil South.
Regional: Southern South America
Argentina Northeast, Argentina South, Argentina Northwest, Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Juan Fernández Islands, Paraguay, Uruguay.
Note: Grey script indicates introduced occurrences.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Tomus II: 848. Reference page.

Links

International Plant Names Index. 2017. Artemisia absinthium. Published online. Accessed: Nov. 15 2017.
The Plant List 2013. Artemisia absinthium in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2017 Nov. 15.

Tropicos.org 2017. Artemisia absinthium. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 15 Nov. 2017.
Hassler, M. 2017. Artemisia absinthium. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2017. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2017 Nov 15. Reference page.
Tela Botanica (ed.) 2000 onwards: Tela Botanica. Le réseau de la botanique francophone. eFlore. Artemisia absinthium. Association Tela Botanica, Montpellier, France. Accessed: 2012 Aug 08.
USDA NRCS PLANTS Profile

Vernacular names
čeština: pelyněk pravý
English: Wormwood, Absinthium
español: Ajenjo
eesti: Koirohi
euskara: Asentsio
suomi: Koiruoho, mali
Nordfriisk: Weremk
français: Grande absinthe
galego: Asente
magyar: Fehér üröm
հայերեն: Ափսինթ, նգածաղիկ, հոտուկ-ավել, ղայսում
italiano: Assenzio maggiore
日本語: ニガヨモギ
македонски: Пелин
norsk nynorsk: Malurt
norsk: Malurt
polski: Bylica piołun
русский: Полынь горькая
svenska: Malört
Türkçe: Pelin otu
українська: Полин гіркий

Artemisia absinthium (wormwood, grand wormwood, absinthe, absinthium, absinthe wormwood,[4] mugwort, wermout, wermud, wormit, wormod[5]) is a moderately poisonous species of Artemisia native to temperate regions of Eurasia[6] and North Africa, and widely naturalized in Canada and the northern United States.[7] It is grown as an ornamental plant and is used as an ingredient in the spirit absinthe and some other alcoholic beverages.

Description

A. absinthium is a herbaceous perennial plant with fibrous roots. The stems are straight, growing to 0.8–1.2 m (2 ft 7 in – 3 ft 11 in) (and rarely over 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in)) tall, grooved, branched, and silvery-green.

Leaves are spirally arranged, greenish-grey colored above, white below, covered with silky silvery-white trichomes, and bearing minute oil-producing glands. The basal leaves are up to 250 mm (10 in) long, bi- to tripinnate with long petioles, with the cauline leaves (those on the stem) smaller, 50–100 mm (2–4 in) long, less divided, and with short petioles. The uppermost leaves can be both simple and sessile (without a petiole).

Flowers are pale yellow, tubular, and clustered in spherical bent-down heads (capitula), which are in turn clustered in leafy and branched panicles. Flowering occurs from early summer to early autumn; pollination is anemophilous. The fruit is a small achene. Seed dispersal occurs by gravity.[7]

A. absinthium 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 to be an archaeophyte rather than a true native.[8]
Cultivation
A. absinthium inflorescences

The plant can easily be cultivated in dry soil. It should be planted under bright exposure in fertile, midweight soil. It prefers soil rich in nitrogen, and can be propagated by ripened cuttings taken in spring or autumn in temperate climates, or by seeds in nursery beds. Growing the plant with others tends to stunt their growth; accordingly, it is not considered to be a good companion plant. A. absinthium also self-seeds generously. It is naturalised in some areas away from its native range, including much of North America and Kashmir Valley of India.[9]

This plant,[10] and its cultivars 'Lambrook Mist'[10] and 'Lambrook Silver'[11] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. These two short cultivars are very similar and more silver than typical British absinthium material and probably derive from southern Europe. 'Lambrook Silver' is the earliest of these cultivars, having been selected in the late 1950s by Margery Fish, who developed the garden at East Lambrook Manor. 'Lambrook Mist' was selected about 30 years later by Andrew Norton, a subsequent owner of the garden. Both gained their Awards of Garden Merit during the RHS Artemisia Trial 1991–3.

Cultivar 'Silver Ghost' is a taller, silver plant, which flowers much later (August–September) than typical absinthium (June–July) in UK, so holds its silver appearance for longer. This and a more feathery-leaved cultivar 'Persian Lace' were selected by National Collection Holder John Twibell in the 1990s.[12]
Constituents

Wormwood herb contains bitter substances from the group of sesquiterpene lactones; absinthin, at 0.20 to 0.28%, is the main component of these bitter substances. Essential oils make up 0.2 to 0.8% and contain (-) - thujone, (+) - isothujone, thujyl alcohol and its esters, chamazulene and other mono- and sesquiterpenes.[13][14] In Bailen et al 2013 and Gonzalez-Coloma et al 2013 the Gonzalez-Coloma group discovered a chemotype that does not produce β-thujone but does contain terpenoids not seen elsewhere.[15]
Uses

It is an ingredient in the spirit absinthe, and is used for flavouring in some other spirits and wines, including bitters, bäsk, 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.[16][17][18][19]

In the Middle Ages, wormwood was used to spice mead, and in Morocco, it is used with tea, called sheeba.[20]

Wormwood was traditionally relatively common as a bittering spice in farmhouse brewing in Denmark, and to some extent Estonia.[21] In 18th-century England, wormwood was sometimes used instead of hops in beer.[22]

Wormwood clippings and cuttings are added to chicken nesting boxes to repel lice, mites, and fleas.[23][24] Bailen et al 2013 and Gonzalez-Coloma et al 2013 find the unique terpenoids of the Gonzalez-Coloma chemotype make this strain especially promising for insect control.[15] As of 2020 a company named EcoflorAgro is investing heavily into increasing the planted area of this strain, hoping to commercialize it to a degree attempted – but never achieved due to unreliable supply – for other botanical insecticides before.[15]
Toxicity

Most chemotypes of A. absinthium contain (−)-α- and/or (+)-β-thujone,[25] though some do not.[26] (−)-α-Thujone by itself is a GABAA receptor antagonist that can cause convulsions and death when administered in large amounts to animals and humans.[27] However, there is only one case of documented toxicity of wormwood involving a 31-year-old man who drank 10 mL of steam-distilled volatile oil of wormwood, wrongly believing it was absinthe liqueur.[28] Medicinal extracts of wormwood have not been shown to cause seizure or other adverse effects at usual doses.[29] Thujones have not been shown to be the cause of excessive doses' toxicity for any kind of wormwood extracts, including absinthe.[30]
Etymology

Artemisia comes from Ancient Greek ἀρτεμισία, from Ἄρτεμις (Artemis). In Hellenistic culture, Artemis was a goddess of the hunt, and protector of the forest and children. The name absinthum comes from the Ancient Greek ἀψίνθιον, meaning the same. An alternative derivation is that the genus was named after Queen Artemisia, who was the wife and sister of Mausolus, ruler of Caria. The word "wormwood" may come from Middle English wormwode or wermode . Webster's Third New International Dictionary attributes the etymology to Old English wermōd (compare with German Wermut and the derived drink vermouth), which the OED (s.v.) marks as "of obscure origin". Some sources[31] state the word "wormwood" comes from the ancient use of the plant as antihelminthic (expelling parasitic worms from the body by either stunning or killing them), documented in Natural History by Pliny (first century AD).
Folk names

A. absinthium has many folk names: absint-alsem (Dutch), absinth, absinthe, absinthium vulgate, Absinthkraut, agenjo, ajenjo común, artenheil, assenzio vero (Italian), Bitterer Beifuß, botrys, eberreis, echter Wermut, gengibre verde (Spanish), Heilbitter, green muse, grüne Fee, la fée verte, Magenkraut, rihan (Arabic), Schweizertee, wermod (Saxon), wor-mod (Old English), and others.[32]
Cultural history

In the Bible, the Book of Revelation tells of a star named Wormwood that plummets to Earth and turns a third of the rivers and fountains of waters bitter.[33]

Nicholas Culpeper insisted that wormwood was the key to understanding his 1651 book The English Physitian. Richard Mabey describes Culpeper's entry on this bitter-tasting plant as "stream-of-consciousness" and "unlike anything else in the herbal", and states that it reads "like the ramblings of a drunk". Culpeper biographer Benjamin Woolley suggests the piece may be an allegory about bitterness, as Culpeper had spent his life fighting the Establishment, and had been imprisoned and seriously wounded in battle as a result.[34]

William Shakespeare referred to wormwood in Romeo and Juliet: Act 1, Scene 3. Juliet's childhood nurse said, "For I had then laid wormwood to my dug" meaning that the nurse had weaned Juliet, then aged three, by using the bitter taste of wormwood on her nipple.

John Locke, in his 1689 book titled An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, used wormwood as an example of bitterness, writing, "For a child knows as certainly before it can speak the difference between the ideas of sweet and bitter (i.e. that sweet is not bitter), as it knows afterwards (when it comes to speak) that wormwood and sugarplums are not the same thing."[35]

Edwin Arlington Robinson relates in a poem how Cliff Klingenhagen gave a guest a glass of wine while drinking a glass of wormwood himself. He concludes, "I have spent / Long time a-wondering when I shall be / As happy as Cliff Klingenhagen is."
References

Linnaeus, Carolus (1753). Species plantarum:exhibentes plantas rite cognitas, ad genera relatas, cum differentiis specificis, nominibus trivialibus, synonymis selectis, locis natalibus, secundum systema sexuale digestas... Vol. 2. Holmiae (Laurentii Salvii). p. 848. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
Christian Rätsch (2005). The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications. Inner Traditions/Bear. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-89281-978-2.
"Artemisia absinthium L. — The Plant List". www.theplantlist.org.
USDA GRIN Taxonomy, retrieved 12 May 2016
Grigson, Geoffrey (1975). The Englishman's Flora. Paladin. p. 413. ISBN 0586082093.
"Artemisia absinthium [Assenzio vero] - Flora Italiana". luirig.altervista.org.
"Artemisia absinthium in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org.
Archeophytes in Britain CD Preston, DA Pearman and A R Hall Botanical J of Linnean Society 2004 145 257-294
Shafi et al., 2012
"Artemisia absinthium 'Lambrook Mist' AGM". APPS.RHS.org.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
"Artemisia absinthium 'Lambrook Silver' AGM". APPS.RHS.org.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
John Twibell, National Collection of Artemisia
Wichtl, Max, ed. (1984). Teedrogen. Ein Handbuch für Apotheker und Ärzte. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-8047-0792-0, pp. 363–365
European Medicines Agency, Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) (30 May 2017). Assessment report on Artemisia absinthium L., herba, final, London, p. 4
Isman, Murray B. (7 January 2020). "Botanical Insecticides in the Twenty-First Century—Fulfilling Their Promise?". Annual Review of Entomology. Annual Reviews. 65 (1): 233–249. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-011019-025010. ISSN 0066-4170. PMID 31594414. S2CID 203985529.
European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy (2009) "Absinthii herba (wormwood)" In: ESCOP Monographs: The Scientific Foundation for Herbal Medicinal Products, 2nd ed, Thieme.
Abad MJ, Bedoya LM, Apaza L, Bermejo P (2012). "The Artemisia L genus: A review of bioactive essential oils" . Molecules 17: 2542-2566. PMID 22388966. doi:10.3390/molecules17032542.
Algieri F, Rodriguez-Nogales A, Rodriguez-Cabezas ME, et al. (2015). "Botanical drugs as an emerging strategy in inflammatory bowel disease: a review" . Mediators Inflamm. 2015: 179616. PMID 26576073.PMC 4630406. doi:10.1155/2015/179616.
Krebs S, Omer B, Omer TN, Fliser D (2010). "Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) for poorly responsive early-stage IgA nephropathy: a pilot uncontrolled trial" Am. J. Kidney Dis. 56 (6): 1095-9. PMID 20843592.doi:10.1053/j.ajkd.2010.06.025.
Grieves, M. (1931). "Wormwood, Common". Botanical.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
Garshol, Lars Marius (2020). Historical Brewing Techniques: The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing. Brewers Publications. p. 220. ISBN 9781938469558.
Hartley, Dorothy (1985) [1954]. Food in England. Futura Publications. p. 456. ISBN 0-7088-2696-2.
"Gardening Australia Series 29 Episode 09". ABC Australia. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
"Absinthium (Wormwood)". Mountain Herb Estate Nursery. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
Nguyen HT, Németh ZÉ (2016). "Sources of variability of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium L) essential oil". J. Appl. Res. Med. Aromatic Plants. 3 (4): 143–150. doi:10.1016/j.jarmap.2016.07.005.
Ariño A, Arberas I, Renobales G, Arriaga S, Dominguez JB (1999). "Essential oil of Artemisia absinthium L from the Spanish Pyrenees". J. Essential Oil Res. 11 (2): 182–184. doi:10.1080/10412905.1999.9701105.
Olsen RW (April 2000). "Absinthe and gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97 (9): 4417–4418. Bibcode:2000PNAS...97.4417O. doi:10.1073/pnas.97.9.4417. PMC 34311. PMID 10781032.
Weisbord SD, Soule JB, Kimmel PL (1997). "Poison on line – acute renal failure caused by oil of wormwood purchased through the internet". N. Engl. J. Med. 337 (12): 825–827. doi:10.1056/NEJM199709183371205. PMID 9297113.
Yarnell E, Heron S (2000). "Retrospective analysis of the safety of bitter herbs with an emphasis on Artemisia absinthium L (wormwood)". J. Naturopathic Med. 9: 32–39.
Lachenmeier DW, Nathan-Maister D (2007). "Systematic misinformation about thujone in pre-ban absinthe". Deutsche Lebensmittel-Rundschau. 103 (6): 255–263.
"La historia de la absenta - info-farmacia".
Ratsch, Christian. The Encyclopedia of Pscyhoactive Plants. Rochester, Vermont.
"Revelation 8:10-11". Bible Gateway.
Richard Mabey (2010). Weeds. The Story of Outlaw Plants. Profile Books Ltd. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-1-84668-081-6.
An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 1 MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books 1 and 2.