Artemisia abrotanum
southernwood
Family AsteraceaeAlso called lad's love, southern wormwood, old man
About
Southernwood is a small, bushy, camphor-scented perennial in the daisy family, grown in gardens for its feathery grey-green foliage and long used as a strewing herb and moth repellent.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Not recorded. We have no source on whether this plant is safe for cats, dogs or other pets — that is not the same as safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked.
- People
- All parts are considered poisonous. The European Food Safety Authority (2012) found essential-oil compounds in the above-ground parts that can be toxic to people; severity is low, but eating large amounts can be very toxic.
- Humidity
- Prefers dry air; does poorly in humid climates.
- Propagation
- Cuttings or division of the roots.
- Mature size
- About 0.9–1.2 m tall and 0.6–0.9 m wide.
Field notes
Morphology
A shrub-like perennial with upright branches forming a bushy clump about 0.9–1.2 m tall and 0.6–0.9 m wide. The narrow, finely divided grey-green leaves are 2.5–7.5 cm long and strongly aromatic. Small cup-shaped yellow or whitish flowers appear in summer and autumn.
Distribution & habitat
Native to Eurasia and Africa and naturalised in scattered parts of North America, where it can become a weed of disturbed ground. It does best in hot, dry climates and struggles in humid weather.
Cultivation notes
Widely grown in gardens and holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit. It is easily propagated from cuttings or by dividing the roots.
History & etymology
Recorded in sixteenth-century Scandinavian medical books for treating people and animals. Sprigs were hung among clothes to keep moths away, giving the French name 'garderobe'; the branches also yield a yellow wool dye.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
- Humidity
- Prefers dry air; does poorly in humid climates.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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