Wormwood Artemisia absinthium

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Family: Compositae Asteraceae

Data Table

 

 

Family : Asteraceae

Highly aromatic perennial of disturbed coastal grassland and wayside places. Locally common in England and Wales only. Pinnate leaves are silvery-hairy on both surfaces. Yellowish flower heads are slightly nodding; seen July - September. Height up to 80cm A tall, bushy perennial is woody at its base and carries finely-divided, silvery-green leaves which are quite aromatic. Flowers are small, drooping, cup-shaped white flowers are arranged in clusters rising from the leaf axils. Wormwood was formerly used by gardeners to discourage slugs and snails and to produce a distilled liquid to spray against aphids. In the wild, wormwood is a plant of waysides and dry waste ground.

Dependent Ecology

Both the wormwood shark moth and the wormwood pug moth feed on this plant although only the latter is at all likely in gardens. It will also attract bees.