Artemisia japonica
Japanese wormwood
Family AsteraceaeAlso called Oriental wormwood
About
Oriental wormwood is a perennial herb of East, Southeast and South Asia, eaten as a young green and used in traditional medicine.
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
- Not recorded.
- Mature size
- 50–130 cm tall.
Field notes
Morphology
Perennial 50–130 cm tall with a thick, woody, strong-smelling rootstock. Leaves are spoon-shaped to fan-shaped and clustered near the rounded tip. Many nodding, egg-shaped to rounded heads carry 12–15 yellow florets, flowering from August to November. Four varieties are recognised.
Distribution & habitat
Japan, Korea, China, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Ecology
Grazed by sheep and goats in Ladakh and Lahaul, though yaks avoid it. The nematode Globodera artemisiae was first recorded on it in 2020.
History & etymology
Young leaves are cooked and eaten and older leaves used as a digestive; excess leaf decoction can raise blood pressure. The dried plant is burned as incense. It contains modest amounts of artemisinin, more in flowers than leaves.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Japan, South Korea, China, India
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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