About
Sea wormwood is a woolly, strongly aromatic perennial of salt marshes and sea cliffs along the Atlantic coasts of northern Europe.
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.
- Soil
- Saline soils in the wild.
- Mature size
- Up to 50 cm tall.
Field notes
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial or subshrub up to 50 cm with pale grey-green to whitish foliage. Leaves are twice divided into narrow linear segments under 2 mm wide and covered in white cottony hairs. Small oblong heads of three to six yellowish or brownish florets appear in racemes in August–September; it is wind-pollinated.
Distribution & habitat
Atlantic coasts from France, Ireland and Britain through the Low Countries, Germany and Scandinavia to the Baltic States and northwestern Russia, on saline soils of salt marshes, brackish ditches, sea cliffs and shingle; now spreading inland along salted roads.
Ecology
Food plant of the caterpillar of the moth Eupithecia extensaria.
History & etymology
Formerly often called Seriphidium maritimum. Two subspecies are recognised.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- France, Ireland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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